Budget Backgrounder: A Community College for the Future
Finance Minister Don Downe has announced $5.3 million in additional funding to enhance and further develop the opportunities and advantages offered by Nova Scotia's community colleges.
"A critical role for government is to prepare our young people so they have choices about their future," said Mr. Downe. "We have been working to broaden the scope of our community colleges beyond training for traditional trades. Today, we continue our commitment to this worthwhile goal with support for a program that creates opportunity for students across the province."
The 1999-2000 budget commits $250,000 to support the growth of an exciting new community college initiative, the virtual campus. This system is on the cutting edge of learning in North America. It allows apprenticeship training from anywhere in Nova Scotia through the use of computer-based connections. It means students don't have to leave their homes, their communities or their jobs to complete apprenticeship programs.
"More than ever, the college is meeting student demands," said Mr. Downe. "From its digital animation and film industry training, to training of gas technicians for the distribution system that is yet to come, the college is breaking ground in its approaches and breaking barriers to opportunity for our young people."
Other initiatives under way include programs to boost opportunities for students in the offshore industry. A partnership with Aberdeen College in Scotland has created an Atlantic Centre for Electrical Technologies. The centre is designed to prepare technical workers for electrical operations in the marine environment. And at the Marconi Campus in Cape Breton, the Petroleum Institute has been established to house several programs in support of offshore development efforts.
These initiatives are further supported with government's request that the college's board of governors bring forward a plan that, by the year 2003, will increase the capacity of the Nova Scotia Community College by 50 per cent. Government has set aside $100,000 for the plan, to be completed by the end of this year. The goal is to increase the number of students in Nova Scotia's community colleges to more than 10,000 from 6,560.
"Nova Scotia wants a college for the new century -- a community college that will be the pride of all Nova Scotians," said Mr. Downe. "These announcements today are further indication of our determination to develop a system that will serve our young people today and well into the future."