Quiet legislative session for post-secondary issues

Province puts changes to the Education Act on hold

Post-secondary education will be a cold topic in the current session of the Nova Scotia legislature, with the province having decided against revising the Education Act.

The legislature resumed Oct. 30, and the Department of Education said the only post-secondary action that would have been brought forward in the fall were revisions to the Education Act, which required those universities seeking to establish education programs to first seek permission from Nova Scotia's Minister of Education, Karen Casey.

The Education Act was designed as a measure of control against the number of education programs that could be formed, and to prevent the demand for teachers from decreasing.

Now, said department spokesman Dan Harrison, the Education Act will not be brought forward. Harrison said only that "now is not the best time," but declined to reveal any further details.

He described the post-secondary discussion in the legislature as "very quiet," after a spirited spring session in early 2008, which saw the introduction of the Memorandum of Understanding.

Leo Glavine, the education critic for the Liberal caucus in Nova Scotia, said he still intends to follow up on his commitment to see the province put in place a true needs-based grant system that would help students secure funding when regular student loans were unable to cover the expense.

"I'm hoping to get a question in next week on the needs-based grants, because this is still a question that I'm hearing, especially from the school level and those students preparing for applying to university," said Glavine. "There are still many who feel that a university education is out of reach."

Glavine said, however, the question of needs-based grants will have to depend on how long the fall session runs.

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