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Roland Butler, Opposition Critic for Human Resources, Labour and Employment
and MHA for the District of Port de Grave, says the Williams government is
failing school children and parents in this province by refusing to
eliminate school fees. "Children have returned to school and parents have
had to find hundreds of dollars to cover burdening school fees," said
Butler. "This government will soon be in the third year of their mandate and
they have still done nothing to keep their commitment to educational
equality."
During the last provincial election, the PC Party made a commitment to
"educational equality" involving educational funding being sufficient to
fully implement the principles of access, opportunity, and equality in every
school in the province (page 50 of the Blue Book). Last year, the Minister
of Education released a discussion paper on school fees, (Sept. 1, 2004) but
no action has been taken.
"The way the Williams government has ignored the needs of some of the
most vulnerable in our society is a real failure. Now is the time to invest
some of the unexpected and windfall oil revenues into the youth of this
province who have immediate needs. These children are at a critical stage in
their development and they cannot wait for years for this investment."
The Liberal MHA pointed out that this is yet another example of how
government has rejected the social needs of the people and allowed suffering
to continue while government receives increased revenues from taxes on fuel
and royalties from the high price of oil.
"This government spent the first few months of their mandate saying they
did not have the money to do the things they promised to do in the election,
but now that they have the money, government remains unwilling to make
investments in the people of this province."
In Nova Scotia, government is taking a more proactive approach to the
issue of school fees. Effective this fall, the government will not permit
schools to charge user fees for mandatory course materials or activities. A
committee has been established to develop a provincial school fee policy by
December of this year.
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