Local students are taking part in a walkout this afternoon (Thursday) at all of North Bay’s high schools.

In fact, students across Ontario are walking out.

One of the local organizers, Sam McKinley, is a student at St Joseph-Scollard Hall and says they’re expecting a couple thousand students in North Bay to take part.

They’re protesting recent policy changes with education.

She says they’ve received backlash from some people who say they aren’t educated on the issue and are just speaking for others.

McKinley says they are educated on the issue.

“We are not speaking for our teachers, we’re speaking for ourselves, cuts hurt kids and that’s what we would like the government to see. We are not the pawns of adults, this is our voice and we want to be heard,” she says.

They’re hoping MPP Vic Fedeli takes notice.

“We are the future voters, in the next election I personally will be voting and I would like him to know I’m not happy with the changes, that he has ultimately made, that represent me,” she says.

Students at each high school in the city will be walking out at 1:15 pm.

Provincially, March For Our Education officials say an estimated over 200,000 students at over 700 schools from across Ontario will participate in the #StudentsSayNo Walkout.

They says changes and cuts include mandatory E-Learning courses for all students, major cuts to the Ontario Autism Program, banning of cell phones and job losses of a projected 5,844 teachers province-wide, causing average class sizes to increase drastically to the detriment of all students.

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