Students Kick Off Provincial Government Advocacy Week

Halifax, N.S. – This morning, student leaders from across the province arrived in Halifax to kick off their Annual Student Advocacy week. They will be meeting with MLAs and decision makers in the post-secondary education sector to encourage policy changes that will help students on campus.

“Meeting with MLAs is a great opportunity to share student experiences directly with decision makers,” said Collette Robert, Chair of StudentsNS. “We hope that our concerns can be heard, and lead to meaningful change for our students.”

Students will be focusing on four main issues this week: grants and loans, international student health care, access for underrepresented student groups, and encouraging student-civic participation by amending the Municipal Elections Act. StudentsNS hopes to use this week to identify the many barriers students currently have to accessing education, with a focus on low-income students that are currently not receiving as much support as they should be.

“We can see that these are recurring issues that students are bringing forth to our member associations,” said Annie Sirois, Vice-Chair. “StudentsNS has worked hard to develop a strong policy committee this year that has produced well researched and evidence based policies to advocate to government.”

StudentsNS believes that by meeting and working with government, the issues students are experiencing can be properly addressed. This week remains a cornerstone of the organization’s work of fighting for affordable, accessible, and quality education that respects the voice of students. For a summary of recommendations please see the document attached below.

Click here to read the Student Advocacy Week Policy

For more information, please contact:

Sophie Helpard, Executive Director
Phone: 905 714 5455
Email: director@studentsns.ca
Or
Collette Robert, Chair of StudentsNS
Email: chair@studentsns.ca

Students Nova Scotia is a not-for-profit and non-partisan advocacy and research group that represents post-secondary students from across Nova Scotia. Our members include Acadia, Cape Breton, Saint Mary’s, and St. Francis Xavier Universities, and the Kingstec and Annapolis Valley Campuses of the Nova Scotia Community College.