Leonard Preyra - MLA for Halifax Citadel – Sable Island

MR. LEONARD PREYRA: Mr. Speaker, through you to the Acting Minister of Education, why do so many university students in Nova Scotia drop out?

HON. JAMES MUIR: Mr. Speaker, I’m surprised that (Interruptions)

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. The honourable Acting Minister of Education has the floor.

MR. MUIR: Mr. Speaker, all members of this House know that the highest level of post-secondary education in Canada is in Nova Scotia.

MR. PREYRA: Mr. Speaker, I’m sorry to see the members on that side see this as a laughing matter. I know the minister is a graduate from Saint Mary’s, it’s a great university and they would like very much to keep their students there, but this week a new Statistics Canada study on participation and drop-out rates in universities showed conclusively that Nova Scotia students are among the most likely in Canada to drop out of school. I’ll table that report. The department boasts of how many students attend our universities, but it’s been mysteriously silent since that study appeared. My question to the acting minister is, what is his response to the Statistics Canada figures?

MR. MUIR: Mr. Speaker, one of the things that I did see last week was that in the Maclean’s survey there were two of the Nova Scotia institutions listed in the top five. I saw that there were others, the government has put tremendous amounts of resources into our community college system. I would have to see those numbers because, to be quite frank, I still hold my initial response that we have the highest level of post-secondary preparation in Canada.

MR. PREYRA: Mr. Speaker, the question wasn’t about preparation, it was about retention and why so many university students drop out in Nova Scotia. My question for the Acting Minister of Education is, how long is this government going to remain silent and pretend that all is well in our university system? We have crumbling infrastructure, massive student debt loads, declining enrolments and high drop-out rates, and the minister and the department have very little to say about it.

MR. MUIR: Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not point out that member and his colleagues did vote against all that extra money that went into post-secondary education in the last budget. (Applause) The honourable member would also remember that under the Crown share, there was an infrastructure trust fund set up. Also remember it was this government, and indeed the present Minister of Education and her predecessor, that also met with the federal government, along with other Education Ministers in Canada, to talk about the infrastructure deficit. As a matter of fact, as a result of those conversations, I believe that you’re finding the federal government is putting more resources in infrastructure in this country.