(rdnewsNOW)

By Phillip Maiani

NDP Presents Post-Secondary Plan

Notley, Eggen, stop in Red Deer to talk about the future of post-secondary

Feb 16, 2022 | 5:40 PM

NDP Leader Rachel Notley and Advanced Education Critic David Eggen were in Red Deer on Wednesday where they presented policy proposals for the NDP’s plan on the future of post-secondary education in Alberta. The proposals were released in advance of the unveiling of the UCP’s provincial budget on Feb. 24.

Notley and Eggen were joined by students and faculty members from Red Deer Polytechnic for the announcement.

According to David Eggen, post-secondaries have seen the UCP slash funding by more than $600 million which has caused tuition rates to spike and has forced schools to lay off more than 1400 support staff to combat the funding cuts.

“This has led to significant staff cuts, program closures, and steep increases to tuition and other fees for students,” proclaimed Eggen.

The NDP says it’s looking to reverse the cuts the Kenney government has made towards funding for post-secondary education.

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“If they are properly supported, Alberta’s post-secondaries can provide a world-class education and set the next generation of our province’s leaders up for success,” said NDP Leader Rachel Notley.

The NDP says decisions made by the UCP government have been extremely harmful to both post-secondaries and students.

Will Langille is a student at Red Deer Polytechnic who says the constant rise in tuition has made him question Alberta’s leadership, “The UCP’s actions have made me lose faith, but I still have hope. I can’t wait for 2023.”

Notley also stressed the importance of creating relationships between post-secondary institutions and the private sector to create more opportunities for graduates to join the workforce and have a positive impact on Alberta’s economy.

When asked about where the NDP would get the money to re-introduce the funding for post-secondaries, Notley called out the UCP for spending one billion dollars on the Keystone XL pipeline as to why the cuts happened.

The NDP says the tuition hikes and funding cuts are a catalyst for Alberta seeing a negative net-migration of young people aged 18-24 for the first time since 1998, according to Statistics Canada.