Some people say charging full price in exchange for half the service or product is good business, others would argue that it is theft or a scam. That is what Canadian universities and colleges are doing to the already struggling students of today. Post-secondary school studies for most individuals are already a struggle whether it's financially, mentally, emotionally, or physically. This year, 2020, has been like no other in recent history and more than ever students need help and support. Students are getting one third of the university or college experience, half of the education but are still paying 100% of the price. Not only are we getting charged the same price as previous years, universities and colleges are having the audacity to raise tuition costs by 1.7% this year (on average).

There are several reasons as to why tuition prices throughout the COVID-19 pandemic should be reduced. Some major reasons include the lack of educational support and resources as well as reduced income and job opportunities. "Learning" through a screen is no where close to the same as learning in person. You lack the one on one ability to ask questions and fully understand a topic. Furthermore we students lack accessibility to resources to perform hands on projects, labs, experiments or tutorials that are essential towards our learning and comprehension in many cases. On top of that we can't use any on campus activities and communities to our advantage such as a libraries or tutoring sessions. In this case, the universities are actually saving money by having to pay less staff and less teachers, as teachers are capable of teaching larger sum classes without a number of students per classroom cap. Although all the evident major drawbacks, we are still asked to perform the same tests and assignments as previous years with less of an understanding on how to do such tasks and are commonly told to refer to 'YouTube' for better understanding on certain topics where needed. This is the cause of so many students to either drop out, fail or cheat rather than truly receive a proper education. Why is it fair to charge students the same price on tuition when teachers and professors are doing much less work and the students must either teach themselves or fail? This provokes the idea that we are paying for a diploma or degree in our individual fields of studies from school's that we could have done ourselves without spending the thousands of dollars on "unneeded" tuition. 

Although the status of COVID-19 and it's health regulations are out of control of Canadian universities and colleges along with certain parts of the government, the cost of tuition is well within their range of controllable variables. Everyone is struggling emotionally, financially and physically throughout these tough times. Why is it any less of a struggle for students to create a steady income or acquire a new job while staying healthy, managing school classes, or competing for the few jobs currently available. Due to COVID-19, less and less companies are open for business resulting in less job opportunities, reduced staff and less available labor hours. As the future of the world's controlled by present day's student, please understand the struggles of the student's now and sign the petition. Many students feel the same way as you but feel as if they have no voice or no power in the situation. I personally don't believe that is the case, I believe that as one student we may not have much power but as a GROUP, students need to come together to promote this movement and justify the economic injustice of education system. So please, spread the word and make it a movement! If the education system and government realize the amount of outraged students there are, they will be force to listen to us and reduce and partially refund tuition prices from the 2020 school year.