August 22, 1998
(Education)

Government makes decision on potential investor's proposal

The Minister of Education, Roger Grimes, says a proposed meeting today with a potential new investor for the Career Academy has been cancelled.

Solicitors for the out-of-province investor provided details of the financial restructuring proposal to government late yesterday. "We have reviewed this information thoroughly," said Mr. Grimes. "It was clear that what they proposed to establish was a new educational institution, not any form of a continuation of the Career Academy. The starting point for the discussion was to be a guarantee of no liability for the new company for any of the debt of the Career Academy, which is substantial, and no training for pilots.

"We understood from students that they wanted some version of the Career Academy, with its 20-year history and recognition of diplomas and certificates to continue and that they wanted continued training for all 1,400 students. Neither is possible with the proposal presented to us.

"We strongly urge students of the Career Academy to proceed Monday to the new placements suggested to them over the past few days."

Most of the 1,400 students have now been placed in other receiving institutions while a few programs such as Aviation, Dental Assistant and Massage Therapy are still being worked on and will be resolved by the middle of next week.

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.

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

1998 08 22                  3:30 p.m.