On the eve of a major higher education summit, to take place in Montreal starting Monday, student groups and young people are uniting to make their voices heard.
The Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec, or FEUQ, and the youth wing of the Parti Quebecois teamed up Sunday to remind the government of the important of reducing student debt load.
In a joint press conference, FEUQ and the Comité national des jeunes du Parti Québécois, or CNJPQ, said they were concerned to see students getting into increasingly large debt and said they felt real and new solutions needed to be made to remedy the situation – and they should be made at the summit in the upcoming days.
FEUQPresident Martine Desjardins said debt reduction is essential to ensure good living conditions for students, as well as access to education -- two priorities for the FEUQ and CNJPQ.
Desjardins said it’s time to put students at the centre of the debate on higher education, which she said is far more concentrated on governance and university funding.
That opinion is shared by CNJPQ President Frédéric St-Jean, who said he hoped that discussions at the summit would address all facets of the issue, from tuition fees to the everyday lives of students.
The Summit on Higher Education will be held Monday and Tuesday in Montreal.