By Street Voices Staff
Source: The Varsity
Frustration and anger in reaction to changes to OSAP are being felt all across the province.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford called students who took part in provincewide campus walkouts last week "naive," saying they should be "thanking the government" for its investments in post-secondary education.
The protests, organized by the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario under its Hands Off Our Education! campaign, took place at several campuses, including York University, the University of Guelph, Trent University, and the University of Windsor.
At the centre of the protests are changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) announced in February.
Under the changes, the maximum share of OSAP funding provided through non-repayable grants dropped from 85 per cent to 25 per cent, meaning students will have to take on more loans to fund their education.
The province also ended its seven-year tuition freeze earlier this year, allowing colleges and universities to raise tuition by up to two per cent annually over the next three years.
The province has also paused OSAP payments last month to all private post-secondary schools.
Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn said it was a result of "serious issues uncovered in the early stages of a sector-wide audit."
As a result, the Southern Ontario Dental College in Hamilton says the school may be forced to close if the pause isn’t lifted.
What do you think about how the province is handling OSAP? What supports would you like to see, especially for Black and marginalized communities?
(With reporting from CBC News)