Debates of October 18, 2004 (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in keeping with my Member's statement today, I would like to address my question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, with regard to Student Financial Assistance. I would like to ask the Minister, Mr. Speaker, what process is in place with SFA to confirm that a student has met the requirement of the regulations at the end of their first semester of school?

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 233-15(3): Requirements For The Continued Student Financial Assistance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the expectation is that a student embarked on a post-secondary career will have read the application form, understand what the requirements are, and be aware that any changes in their situation may impact on whether or not they owe money back to the department, or whether they will be considered in the future. The department does not actively follow up to see whether or not somebody has been successful in the first semester. The expectation is that the student, as part of their process, will make sure that they stay in compliance with the rules and regulations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 233-15(3): Requirements For The Continued Student Financial Assistance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I imply from the Minister's response that he thinks if you're in post-secondary education you shouldn't be there unless you're smart enough to figure out the government's regulations. Anyway, I won't comment on that.

Mr. Speaker, I understand, from these regulations, that students are notified by letter at the beginning of the first semester. However, four months later can be a long time for a lot of students. Some of these kids are 18 years old. Does SFA notify the student at the end of the first semester of any changes to their program, or ask for any additional information regarding their first semester? Do they contact them at the end of the first semester, even by e-mail or fax or anything, and say did you stay in the program, did you change your course load, did you do anything which deviated from the regulations? Are there any reminders? Are there any requests for supplemental information between first and second semesters? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 233-15(3): Requirements For The Continued Student Financial Assistance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to the best of my knowledge, the answer to the question is no. The expectation is, as I said, that students are made to understand very clearly. It's very, very clearly set out on the application form that any change may require them to pay back. So if they're not paying attention to that, yes, they could be in trouble. We're finding that for the most part students are having no trouble staying in compliance. In fact, since 2001, there haven't been that many appeals from people who feel that they have been treated incorrectly by the SFA program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 233-15(3): Requirements For The Continued Student Financial Assistance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have three students in Hay River, so I don't know if we're the exception here or what. I understand that requesting transcripts between semesters would delay funds being disbursed at the beginning of the second semester and would not be beneficial to students. However, would the Minister consider looking into a reminder notice, or an inquiry being sent to students a few weeks before the end of their semester; something that could be e-mailed, as I said, or faxed back to say that they are in compliance? Would the Minister consider sending out such communication to the students? After all, the whole intent of the SFA program is to see the students succeed, not to say we have regulations, you didn't meet them, pay us back the money. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 233-15(3): Requirements For The Continued Student Financial Assistance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to look into whether or not we could accommodate that request. If it's something that could be done easily by e-mail, then certainly we could use it as an opportunity to contact students and remind them, for instance, that it's time to get their names in for employment in the summer. There are a number of reasons that we may want to contact students; but reminding them, too, that any change that they may have made to their program, if they haven't been successful, may impact on their qualification for funds, would also be a good idea. So, yes, Mr. Speaker, I will look into that.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 233-15(3): Requirements For The Continued Student Financial Assistance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Dent, for that very positive response. That sounds like an excellent idea that could be bundled with other information. Now, as to the students who may not have been able to comply with the regulations and didn’t successfully complete their first year of studies; on the repayment right now you have to pay the entire amount, which could be thousands of dollars, before you can go on with your second year. So essentially it means drop out of school, get a job, pay the government back, then revisit the issue of your education. Could the Minister also look into any means that would be more lenient towards the students in terms of a way that they could repay this debt, but have it not send their education off the rails? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Requirements For The Continued Student Financial Assistance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, because the regulations were in place the way they were, I don’t believe that it could be forgiven or forgotten or ignored. The rules will have to be applied as they were at the time that the issue or the problem happened. It may interest the Member to know that I have given direction and we are changing some of the rules to make it easier for students to qualify for full-time performance during the year, because we will agree now that a full-time course load is equivalent to 60 percent as opposed to 75 percent. That will be starting for first-year students and working through the system next year. So we are trying to make the system more responsive to students, particularly those who are coming into the system or into post-secondary education from small northern communities for the first time. But it’s not possible for us to go back and change the way regulations deal with people retroactively. I believe that there may be some possibility to examine payment schedules and so on, but the end result will have to be the same because of the way the regulations were set out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.