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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Post-secondary students are vowing they won't let the government off the hook for scholarship cuts now that the legislative assembly is back in session.

"We're going to try to do probably just a short march through town because we'd have to organize it with the RCMP, and we are going to have signs and we're going to go outside the legislative assembly and have a protest," said Lorraine Westman, a former recipient and now part of the campaign.

Students were notified of the cuts to the $400,000 merit-based scholarships by e-mail March 26.

The protest is planned for the last sitting of the assembly next Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

Westman, Daniel Wong, Rebecca Bruser and Laura Mackinnon spoke with Education Minister Jackson Lafferty on Monday as part of their efforts to get the campaign rolling.

"It wasn't a disaster. It wasn't amazing by the same coin," said Wong.

"(Lafferty is) not going to make any concessions at this point," he added, but "it was a cordial meeting, and it's positive that he's open to hearing from students."

The campaign against the scholarship cuts had been on a bit of a hiatus as the original voice and founder of the Facebook group - "Bring back our NWTSFA scholarships!" which now has 291 members - stepped down as its leader after he got a job working for the territorial government.

Now the four who spoke with the education minister Monday have taken up the reins.

They have written a manifesto for the government, and are calling for more people to step up and help organize fundraising for advertisements, write letters to MLAs, make a petition, plan more protests, design flyers, print advertising, and conduct high school outreach, according to a post by Wong on the Facebook group.

Their ultimate objectives?

"We want our scholarships back in full," said Wong.

"We also want some changes made to the program - there are certain issues such as, even when they were in place there was a stipulation that you needed to (be taking) five courses."

"That's a huge funding gap because basically a quarter of all undergraduates now don't qualify, because in fourth year, you rarely need to have a full course load to fulfill your degree requirements - that was the case for myself and Rebecca (Bruser)."

Even though Lafferty has so far refused to budge, Wong is still hopeful.

Indeed, so far this past year there have already been two situations where government plans that were seemingly set in stone have been overturned by public outcry.

The income threshold for prescriptions and extended medical care announced by Health Minister Sandy Lee last December faltered amid a flurry of protests and opposition from regular MLAs.

The territorial government also backed down on plans to merge school boards with other public service boards.

Wong said he is optimistic that "if we get out there in big enough numbers and really push to bring (the scholarships) back, they will come back."

"The ball is now in our court to intensify the political ramifications of not giving us back our money - which we intend to do."

Many students work for the territorial government during the summer, and some are under the impression that if they speak out, they may jeopardize their jobs.

Tom Williams, associate deputy minister of Human Resources, said that is not necessarily the case.

"Under the code of conduct, employees are free to comment on public issues, but again, if they are tied to the scholarship program, they must not use their position in government to lend weight to their personal opinions," said Williams.

Williams said if they wish to attend the protest during working hours, "the student will need to request leave from their supervisor, and I guess depending on operational requirements, their leave may be approved."

Some MLAs seem to be on the students' side. Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins said the government's focus should be on empowering youth.

"It makes a lot of sense to support education scholarships," said Hawkins.

"I certainly think it's going to be an issue that everyone's going to have to take seriously and take account for - it was one of those things that sort of slipped through."