Tuition waivers will be expanded for former youth in care: minister
VANCOUVER — B.C.’s minister of advanced education says government will move quickly to expand a tuition-fee waiver program for former youth in care.
Melanie Mark made the remarks a day before she is expected to join Premier John Horgan and Conroy at a news conference in Nanaimo today.
In an interview with Postmedia on Thursday, Melanie Mark said her mandate letter listed her top priorities as “everything from moving on ABE [advanced basic education] to addressing apprenticeship ratios.”
“Within that, Minister [of Children and Family Development Katrine] Conroy and I are expected to address tuition waivers for former youth in care, and I can assure you, as someone who has spent the better part of my life advocating for these vulnerable young people, that we’ll be moving pretty quickly.”
Mark discussed the need for such an initiative to help foster kids succeed in life, but stopped short of confirming the event’s details.
“I’m looking forward to making our announcement public,” she said. “I can tell you it’s going to happen very shortly.”
Statistics show 60 per cent of children in care end up homeless or on income assistance, Mark said. “That’s just not good enough. We want to make sure that we’re uplifting young people, making sure they have every opportunity to advance.”
Today’s announcement will be held at Vancouver Island University In 2013, the university was the first post-secondary institution in B.C. to waive tuition for foster children in response to a request by former children’s representative Mary Ellen TurpelLafond.
Eleven of B.C.’s 25 post-secondary schools now offer the waivers. They are paid for by the schools, not the government.
One of Conroy’s priorities as spelled out in her mandate letter was to provide “enhanced support” for former foster children pursuing advanced education.
When asked last week whether “enhanced support” could include money for rent, books and living expenses, Conroy said discussions were ongoing, and that she hopes to make an announcement in the near future.