Fredericton students to hold march in defense of public education

Fredericton – On Tuesday March 1, students from St. Thomas University (STU) and the University of New Brunswick (UNB) will hold a March in Defense of Public Education to call on the New Brunswick government to provide more funding to post-secondary education, reduce tuition fees, provide more grants to students and eliminate differential tuition fees for international students.

STU students will rally in the quad (in front of George Martin Hall) and UNB students will rally in the quad (outside of the Student Union Building) at 1:00PM. STU students will march through campus to pick up UNB students at 1:20 PM and then continue down to the New Brunswick legislature.

The tuition freeze, which began in 2007, expires this year and the provincial government is set to table a budget March 22nd. Thus far, the government has not made any announcements about funding for universities or tuition fee rates, only promising a four-year tuition schedule to allow students to plan for tuition fees increases.

Ella Henry is President, St. Thomas University Students’ Union. The St. Thomas University Students’ Union represents over 2500 students at St. Thomas University.