25 Jun UPEISU Reacts to 2019-20 PEI Provincial Budget
UPEISU Reacts to 2019-20 PEI Provincial Budget
On Tuesday, June 25th 2019, the UPEI Student Union attended the stakeholder budget lock up for the 2019-20 Prince Edward Island Provincial Budget prior to its presentation at the Legislature.
There were few mentions of Post-Secondary Education throughout the document, however, the UPEISU is overall satisfied with investments in post-secondary education.
“We are pleased to see the 2% increase in the operating grants of Post-Secondary Institutions,” says UPEISU Vice President Academic & External Sweta Daboo.“This aligns with the multi-year funding agreement which the UPEISU has historically advocated for, and allows for tuition predictability for students”
The UPEISU is furthermore pleased to note an increase to student aid, which will support access to post-secondary education. Notably absent from the budget, however, were investments into open education resources.
“We were greatly disappointed to note the omission of Open Education Resources from the budget,” further says Daboo. “This was present on two out of three party platforms during the Spring Provincial Election, and thus had support across the floor”.
The UPEISU looks forward to continuing to advocate on behalf of students, and furthermore, working alongside government, opposition, the third party, and stakeholders to ensure affordable, accessible, and quality post-secondary education.