Eliminating tuition for apprentices should be first step to free tuition at NSCC

Removing debt key to improving access to skills training

HALIFAX – Lenore Zann, NDP Post-Secondary Education spokesperson, says provincial funding to end tuition fees for apprenticeship programs is a positive step toward ending tuition fees for all community college programs.

“With this announcement, the Liberals are admitting that eliminating tuition fees improves access to skills training,” said Zann. “The next step is to eliminate tuition fees at all Nova Scotia Community College campuses so that our young people can get the skills and education they need without being saddled with massive amounts of debt.”

Eliminating tuition fees at the NSCC would provide a more equitable approach to funding education for everyone. According to a report from the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, since the year 2000, on average, only 2 percent of registered apprenticeship and trade qualifiers in Nova Scotia are women.

“We need to continue to invest in improving access to apprenticeships for women, but eliminating tuition fees for all NSCC programs would help level the playing field,” said Zann.

Eliminating tuition fees for 22,000 NSCC students across the province would cost about $30 million a year.

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