OSAP not a free ride
Re: Taylor Swift sends $6,386 for UW student’s tuition — Aug. 14
Recently, The Record published an article on Taylor Swift’s donation to Ayesha Khurram, a University of Waterloo student. I commend Taylor’s selfless act, which helped Ayesha continue studies after cuts to OSAP threatened that for her. This should be welcomed, but not be cause for celebration. Acts of kindness cannot be relied on to preserve access to post-secondary education in Ontario.
This is a situation where OSAP should have come through for Ayesha. In contrast to recent provincial cuts, the 2016 OSAP transformation vastly expanded OSAP. Grants were distributed based on need, funded by reallocating existing post-secondary spending, with many other students able to access loans.
OSAP is not a program that gives students a free ride for all expenses. Parents are expected to contribute to students’ costs and students are expected to work full-time during the summer to pay for school; both of these are and were included in OSAP calculations.
I fear that many students like Ayesha will now slip through the cracks. I hope that all Ontarians will ask their elected representatives to make the long-term investment to protect access to a system that lets students work hard to build a better future.
Matthew Gerrits
Vice -president, education Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association, University of Waterloo