March 24, 2003
Funding ESL Programs
Question to Advanced Education Minister Shirley Bond
R. Lee: My question is to the Minister of Advanced Education. Many people in my community of Burnaby north rely on institutions that offer English as a second language. In January, the Vancouver Community College announced that it would be reducing a number of seats available for ESL students. Can the Minister of Advanced Education tell my constituents what she has done to make English language training a priority for British Columbians?
Hon. S. Bond: English as a second language training is important to us. What we've done over the past almost two years is allow institutions the ability to make the decisions that reflect the needs of their particular communities. Institutions around this province are very different. I'm pleased to say that my staff has met on numerous occasions over the last several weeks with Vancouver Community College, and as we delivered our budget this year, certainly every institution received either the same amount of money as last year or more money. Within the last week we've been able to announce an additional $10 million in unconditional grants to those institutions to help institutions like Vancouver Community College make decisions that are appropriate for their particular schools.
