HALIFAX – Each year about 1,200 young people leave Nova Scotia to attend a post-secondary school somewhere else.
It’s a trend that’s been ongoing for years, and is something the government hopes will change with the help of a new website introduced on Wednesday, MyNSFuture.ca.
“My NS Future will allow students to explore the opportunities at all universities and colleges,” said Mairead Barry of Dalhousie University.
The website is something the government says young people have been missing. It allows students and parents to explore all 11 universities and colleges in the province and the programs they offer.
“Initiatives like these announced today make a positive difference in encouraging young Nova Scotians to participate in post secondary education here in Nova Scotia,” said Allister Surette of Universite Sainte-Anne.
The Education Minister says the site makes it easier for people of all ages to access information, and hopefully help keep the younger generation of Nova Scotians studying and staying in the province.
“We always want to keep more young people here, we like them to go to school here, we have incentives for them to go to school here, so it makes sense,” said labour and advanced education minister Kelly Regan.
The online resource will make the application process smoother and make it easier for students to transfer credits from one post secondary school to another.
“We want students to try courses at other universities or the colleges and use those credits towards their degree,” said Barry.
The site took two years to build and comes with a price tag of $2.15 million dollars. Money the government says is well spent.
“We actually think that anything that makes it easier for young people to make good decisions around their career is a good investment because if they make good decisions they’re more likely to stay here in Nova Scotia and we need that,” Regan told Global News.
Student groups say the site is helpful, but think more needs to be done.
“We need to take into account that our system is severely underfunded and our students are consistently being asked to pay more in tuition fee dollars and getting less, and ultimately that needs to change if we are to really combat the youth outmigration crisis that we see here,” added Michaela Sam of the Canadian Federation of Students.
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