FNUniv Students Stage Sit-In At INAC Offices

FNUniv Students Stage Sit-In At INAC Offices

Friday, May 30, 2008 at 15:39

Students at the First Nations University of Canada staged a sit-in yesterday at the Regina offices of Indian Affairs.

The top two floors of the school are used by INAC officials, meaning the students didn’t have far to go.

Students association interim president Thomas Roussin says they did it to protest what they feel is an unfair funding cap that is placed over First Nations education.

Indian Affairs has a policy of limiting annual increases to its funding budget for First Nations’ students post-secondary education to two per cent.

Roussin notes that since that policy was introduced in 1996, there has been an 86 per cent increase in tuition costs.

He says the cap essentially means two per cent less students on-reserve are able to go to university each year.

The sit-in lasted about an hour and was peaceful.