August 21, 1998
(Education)

Minister guarantees placements for all displaced students of the Career Academy

Education Minister Roger Grimes said today that plans are now being finalized to accommodate all 1400 displaced students in other institutions in the province, with the majority of them being placed in the same program in the same community.

Department officials have been meeting with students throughout the province over the past few days to address their concerns and provide information on new placements for next week. "Negotiations are continuing with Holland College to establish the dental assistant program in St. John's and with Provincial Airlines regarding the professional pilot training program. Officials with the Department of Education are expected to successfully conclude these arrangements in a few days," said Mr. Grimes.

Students moving to other private institutions to continue or conclude their programs will do so at no extra cost to them and are guaranteed the same diploma they would have received from the Career Academy or, if necessary, from the Department of Education. The Department of Education's Student Aid employees will be working throughout the weekend to process the student aid certificates to ensure that they will be ready for distribution next week.

The College of the North Atlantic has also been working cooperatively with officials from the Department of Education to address the needs of displaced students. The public college is currently finalizing resource and space requirements in an effort to help place students back in the classroom as soon as possible.

"This has been a very difficult week for these students," said the minister, "and I hope they will exercise the options made available to them for Monday to continue on with their education."

Workterm students are advised to continue with the arrangements that have been made for their workterm placements. Workterm students are reminded to contact (709) 729-2187 if they are experiencing difficulty.

Meanwhile, Mr. Grimes revealed today that he spoke directly with the potential investor for the Career Academy last night. "The conversation I had last night with the potential investor was followed up on this morning by legal counsel for the Career Academy which confirmed and asked for the face-to-face meeting with this investor for tomorrow in St. John's. I have agreed to this meeting."

"I want to thank the students for working cooperatively with government to address their concerns and voicing the concerns of so many other students affected by the closure of the Career Academy," said Mr. Grimes, "and I also want to thank the College of the North Atlantic, Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Career Colleges and departmental staff for their dedication, cooperation and hard work in helping to find a resolution to this issue that is in the best interest of the students."

Contact: Carl Cooper, (709) 729-0048.

1998 08 21                        3:20 p.m.