VICTORIA — The B.C. Liberals broke their promise to provide free upgrading courses to adult learners by announcing that British Columbians who are upgrading their courses to qualify for post-secondary will now have to pay hundreds of dollars.

“You can’t take the Liberals at their word. They said they’d provide these courses to adults for free, but now they’re putting up roadblocks for thousands of people across the province,” said New Democrat advanced education spokesperson Kathy Corrigan.

“The previous advanced education minister was all smiles in 2007, so where’s the current minister today to take responsibility for the total reversal? Minister Virk seems nowhere to be found.”

New Democrats were responding today to the B.C. Liberals’ announcement that the policy they announced in 2007 to provide high school upgrading courses for free was being canceled.

People seeking to upgrade any of their high school courses to qualify for post-secondary will now have to pay out-of-pocket. Corrigan noted that the Advanced Education Ministry has been the hardest hit since Premier Clark took over, so to make matters worse, at the same time that fees are going up – funding is going down.

“Instead of taking down barriers to opportunity for British Columbians, the Liberals are putting up new ones by slapping fees on most courses, including core courses like math and English” said New Democrat education spokesperson Rob Fleming. “New expensive fees for prerequisite courses will shut the door of B.C.’s trade schools and post-secondary institutions for many adults seeking to improve their lives and employability through a trade or profession.”

“How can the government ensure good B.C. jobs go to B.C. workers when they’re making it harder for students to get the skills they need for post-secondary education? This policy is bad for B.C. students, bad for our labour market, and just plain bad for the economy.”