BC Government to Students With Disabilities (paraphrased): Get a haircut and get a real job

[trouble]

I'm almost tempted to post this to accessibility_fail, because the BC Government has slashed funding and aid for students with disabilities, even those who cannot work.

Go BC. Be down with your awesome-self.

Province slashes wide range of post-secondary funding

$16-million cut from student aid budget, but no announcement


Darah Hansen, Vancouver Sun

Published: Thursday, July 23, 2009

Hundreds of post-secondary students looking for financial help this fall have been turned away by the province following a $16-million cut to the student-aid budget, The Vancouver Sun has learned.

Nursing, health care and home-support-worker programs are among those affected by the cuts, which were approved in June.

There was no public announcement. Students were notified by letter or phone call.

The Premier's Excellence Award, which distributes $15,000 scholarships to top high school students, was eliminated.

Students who can't afford to repay their student debt, or who are disabled and can't work, will no longer be eligible to have their loans forgiven.

It's all part of the government's bid to reduce costs by at least $1.9 billion over three years, $589 million of it this fiscal year.

To that end, the government "had to make some difficult decisions," Advanced Education Minister Moira Stilwell said.

Stilwell said the cuts followed a comprehensive review of her ministry's grants program with an eye to "make sure we can protect and fund core services."

The $116-million student aid budget was cut to $100 million.

At the same time, the government expects the number of students receiving aid to rise from 53,000 in 2008 to 75,000 this year.

Margaret Dhillon of the BC Nurses Union called funding cuts to the Nurses Education Bursary "shortsighted and "counter-intuitive."

"I don't know why they would even consider cutting that in a profession that is in such an acute shortage," Dhillon said.

Last year, the $2.66-million bursary program aided 630 nursing students. This year, only $1 million is available.

Dhillon worried the cuts may keep some students from going back to school. She said some students were likely counting on the money, and "this will now interrupt or end their education dreams or goals."

The provincial Health Care Bursary and the Premier's Excellence Award program -- worth about $1.4 million and $240,000, respectively -- are no longer available.

The government aims to save a further $1.4 million by abolishing the debt forgiveness program for 400 students who can't make monthly payments.

As well, the province will end a pilot program, worth $4.7 million, for loan-reduction assistance to students filling high-demand occupations, including residential care aides and home support workers.

Disabled students were also hit. Those who were eligible for loan forgiveness will now be required to apply for extended interest relief on their debt. The disabled benefits program, which aided about 350 students per year, was to end July 31, and will not be renewed.

In its place, the government has budgeted $1.7 million for upfront funding of $1,000 to about 2,000 disabled students.

"Overall, we are continuing to try to make post-secondary education as affordable and accessible to British Columbian students as we can," Stilwell said.

Shamus Reid of the Canadian Federation of Students said the cuts couldn't come at a worse time for students.

"To be cutting student aid when students need to be paying for ever-increasing tuition fees, and when workers need retraining to get back to the workforce, is just really bad timing."

Reid also questioned the government's communication strategy for the cuts.

"It sound like it's been pretty secretive so far," he said.

NDP MLA Spencer Herbert agreed, calling it "pretty sneaky."

Stilwell said there was no effort to cover up the funding cuts.

"It is July and people are turning their minds towards going back to school, and so we're working to get this information out," she said.

Comments

[From: sqbr]

Can they do that? Isn't that changing the conditions of a loan after someone has agreed to it? Because I know that if I wasn't guaranteed not having to pay back my HECS (kind of like student loans) if I was poor then I might not have gone to uni.

*has unpaid HECS, is too disabled to work, is paranoid*

[From: trouble]

I don't know. I called my father (he's a big muckity-muck in the party apparatus of the official opposition) and he thinks that they can. I'm trying to get more details because wow does this ever scare me witless. And Don doesn't have unpaid loans.

[From: amadi]

So what people supposed to do? Is there a disability program there like we have in the U.S. (ours is linked with the Social Security program) that sends a small monthly check to disabled people? Do they expect that that pittance (it always is) is going to be used to pay off student loans?

[From: trouble]

Income assistance here is determined by province. In Alberta, Don's income assistance was $900/month. Here in Nova Scotia, it's 0$/month, because I'm a student and so I'm expected to get a student loan to cover costs such as his medication and repair of his wheelchair.

No, really, that's what we were told when he applied for income assistance. That it was expected to be handled by student loans. I'm to go further into debt to keep my husband in life-altering medication.

I have no idea what people in BC will do. Student loan debt cannot be written off when declaring bankruptcy.

[From: amadi]

I'm just presuming that Don is your partner type person? You were told to get student loans to cover his medical costs?! What if you weren't a student?

[From: trouble]

*nodnod* It's all about marriage disincentives.

If I weren't a student, I'd be working full-time, and thus he wouldn't qualify for any government aid because I would make too much money.

[From: amadi]

That's a lot of assumption. (On their part, not yours.) Geez.

[From: trouble]

Yeah, Nova Scotia is fail all around at the moment. We have a new government, but I am not hopeful for change.