Additional funds should go to support university students: group
A student advocacy group wants to see money from a financial relief package for universities used to help students' academic experience.
On Tuesday, the provincial government announced the $25 million package to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, on the province's 10 universities, including reduced revenues from tuition and residence fees.
Students Nova Scotia said in a release that the financial sustainability of universities “remains paramount in ensuring an accessible, affordable and high quality education that prioritizes student services and supports. With a reduction in resources, institutions have struggled to deliver on educational quality, and Students Nova Scotia implores institutions to use this funding to improve the academic experience.”
The group's chair, Samantha Graham, said in the release that while it welcomes anything that helps promote stability for universities as the pandemic created unexpected financial constraints “we hope institutions will be held accountable in ensuring that these funds are directed towards supporting students given the widespread academic and financial challenges they have experienced over the past year.”
Executive director Clancy Mcdaniel said universities should address the quality of education that many students have said was negatively impacted with the move to virtual or hybrid learning.
“Students are consistently sharing that the quality of their education has decreased during this unprecedented year, leading to widespread frustration towards paying increased tuition for a lower quality education,” Mcdaniel said. “We support this investment into post-secondary in Nova Scotia — however, there needs to be accountability in ensuring these additional resources enhance students' current experience.”