School more accessible for rural and northern communities

The provincial government has rolled out more funding to Ontario Colleges, but this time it's for the little guy.

Northern and rural colleges, which face lower enrollment and high tuition costs, were granted $10 million this year and $20 million for the 2006/07 academic year, which will go towards improving the quality of education in these more remote areas.

Fanshawe's share of the funding equals more than $200,000, which will be distributed amongst the smaller campuses in St. Thomas, Woodstock, Simcoe, Strathroy and Tillsonburg.

“Our government recognizes that Ontario's small, northern and rural colleges face special challenges, including higher costs to provide the same services as their large urban counterparts,” said Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. “This funding will help to create a level playing field and ensure students at these colleges will have opportunities for a high quality education.”

The new funding does not include the $3.3 million boost northern and rural colleges had already been given for the 2005/06 school year.

“Rural education is a key priority for the McGuinty government,” said Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. “This funding for rural colleges shows we are delivering results.”

Fanshawe St. Thomas Chair, Tom Pickard said the new funding would be used to help those students who need extra help or tutoring.

“Sometimes good students have problems with one subject,” Pickard said. “Our goal is to ensure their success by helping them over the hump or by helping them to reach higher.”

He said that one-to-one peer tutoring and academic counseling might be the difference between passing and failing and graduating or not.

Northern colleges, such as Cambrian in Sudbury, Canadore in North Bay and Confederation in Thunder Bay, each received over $1 million of the investment. A total of 18 colleges were included in the funding.

Fanshawe's satellite colleges offer a wide range of part-time and full-time programs including apprenticeships, adult education, tool and die, healthcare, police foundations and even theatre arts.