The Saskatchewan Party says it would ease the tuition burden for high school graduates who continue their studies in the province by providing them with up to $500 a year to a maximum of $2,000.
Premier Brad Wall also pledged to help parents who contribute to Registered Education Savings Plans by matching 10 per cent of a parent's contribution to a maximum of $250 a year.
The first promise - called the Saskatchewan Advantage Scholarship - would start in 2012, allowing new high school graduates to have up to $500 deducted from tuition costs at any Saskatchewan post-secondary intuition or any recognized training course in the province. Students would have the next 10 years to take advantage of the maximum $2,000 tuition break.
The NDP charged that scholarship money would just be eaten up by rising tuition if there's no strategy to prevent future hikes at the province's post-secondary institutions.
But Wall defended the Sask. Party's record on funding for post-secondary institutions, which for the most recent fiscal year included $24.6 million to limit tuition increases to an average of about three per cent.
"It's important to fund institutions, and we will. But I think it's also very important to help families directly," Wall told reporters Tuesday morning as he made his announcement from the backyard of a Saskatoon home.
The Sask. Party would continue to strive to limit potential future tuition increases "to three per cent or thereabouts," Wall said.
The scholarship program would cost an estimated $4.6 million in the first year, rising to $18.4 million by 201516.
The RESP top-up, or education savings grant, would cost about $11 million a year.
Wall said the proposals build on the graduate retention program the Sask. Party introduced during its first term in government, which allows post-secondary graduates who stay and work in the province to receive tuition rebates of up to $20,000.
"For a long time Saskatchewan lost too many young people to other provinces. In the last campaign we worked to address that by promising and then implementing in government the graduate retention program, which we think is the most aggressive youth retention plan anywhere in the country," Wall said.
But during a campaign stop in Saskatoon, NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter said the scholarship money falls short, making reference to statistics that suggest average undergraduate tuition in the province has increased by nearly $600 over the past four years, as well as rising rents and higher child care costs.
"While this is a positive - $500 is better than nothing - it doesn't come close to covering off even one of the big items that students are facing," said Lingenfelter, who added that the NDP will soon unveil its own advanced education platform.
The president of the University of Saskatchewan Students' Union, Scott Hitchings, said the promise should help those who might not otherwise be able to attend university.
"But we want to know what they're going to be offering students who are already in university and are struggling to make ends meet because that's a pretty large issue," Hitchings said.
The student group plans to issue a list next week outlining its expectations for the next government.
Kent Kimpton, who hosted the Sask. Party event in his backyard, said the pledges unveiled by Wall would mean more options for his children Mac, 17, and Lauren, 14, as they consider what to do after high school.
"It's going to offer us a little more choice and opportunity if the kids want to pursue some different things," Kimpton said.
ahall@leaderpost.com
Premier Brad Wall also pledged to help parents who contribute to Registered Education Savings Plans by matching 10 per cent of a parent's contribution to a maximum of $250 a year.
The first promise - called the Saskatchewan Advantage Scholarship - would start in 2012, allowing new high school graduates to have up to $500 deducted from tuition costs at any Saskatchewan post-secondary intuition or any recognized training course in the province. Students would have the next 10 years to take advantage of the maximum $2,000 tuition break.
The NDP charged that scholarship money would just be eaten up by rising tuition if there's no strategy to prevent future hikes at the province's post-secondary institutions.
But Wall defended the Sask. Party's record on funding for post-secondary institutions, which for the most recent fiscal year included $24.6 million to limit tuition increases to an average of about three per cent.
"It's important to fund institutions, and we will. But I think it's also very important to help families directly," Wall told reporters Tuesday morning as he made his announcement from the backyard of a Saskatoon home.
The Sask. Party would continue to strive to limit potential future tuition increases "to three per cent or thereabouts," Wall said.
The scholarship program would cost an estimated $4.6 million in the first year, rising to $18.4 million by 201516.
The RESP top-up, or education savings grant, would cost about $11 million a year.
Wall said the proposals build on the graduate retention program the Sask. Party introduced during its first term in government, which allows post-secondary graduates who stay and work in the province to receive tuition rebates of up to $20,000.
"For a long time Saskatchewan lost too many young people to other provinces. In the last campaign we worked to address that by promising and then implementing in government the graduate retention program, which we think is the most aggressive youth retention plan anywhere in the country," Wall said.
But during a campaign stop in Saskatoon, NDP Leader Dwain Lingenfelter said the scholarship money falls short, making reference to statistics that suggest average undergraduate tuition in the province has increased by nearly $600 over the past four years, as well as rising rents and higher child care costs.
"While this is a positive - $500 is better than nothing - it doesn't come close to covering off even one of the big items that students are facing," said Lingenfelter, who added that the NDP will soon unveil its own advanced education platform.
The president of the University of Saskatchewan Students' Union, Scott Hitchings, said the promise should help those who might not otherwise be able to attend university.
"But we want to know what they're going to be offering students who are already in university and are struggling to make ends meet because that's a pretty large issue," Hitchings said.
The student group plans to issue a list next week outlining its expectations for the next government.
Kent Kimpton, who hosted the Sask. Party event in his backyard, said the pledges unveiled by Wall would mean more options for his children Mac, 17, and Lauren, 14, as they consider what to do after high school.
"It's going to offer us a little more choice and opportunity if the kids want to pursue some different things," Kimpton said.
ahall@leaderpost.com
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