TOP GRADS HONOURED, NEW AWARD ANNOUNCED

VANCOUVER – Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell presented awards today to the province’s top high school graduates last year – chosen for their excellent grades, service to their communities and involvement in extra-curricular activities – and announced a new category for a student with a disability.

“The Premier’s Excellence Awards recognize young British Columbians from all over the province who are both outstanding students and model citizens,” Coell said. “I congratulate each of this year’s winners for what they have already achieved, and look forward to the contributions they will make as they progress through their post-secondary education and on to exceptional careers.”

The awards include a medal of recognition and a $15,000 scholarship to attend a public post-secondary institution in B.C. The government tripled the amount of the scholarship in 2005, the first time it had been increased since the Premier’s Excellence Awards were established in 1986. To date, more than $2.2 million has been awarded.

This year, for the first time, nominations have been accepted for a Premier’s Excellence Award for a Student with a Permanent Disability.

“This new scholarship recognizes a student who has overcome the challenges of their disability to excel in academic studies while being fully involved in their communities,” Coell said. “Creating this special category is another way this government is building the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities.”

Each January, high school principals in the province are invited to nominate the student in their school who has demonstrated academic excellence in grades 11 and 12, as well as high levels of involvement in extra-curricular activities in their schools and communities

A committee including representatives from the ministries of Advanced Education, Education, and Employment and Income Assistance, as well as retired educators, picks the top student in each of the province’s 15 college regions. Students receive their scholarship cheques once they have enrolled in full-time studies at a B.C. public post-secondary institution. They may also defer their scholarship for a year, which one student has opted to do this year.

“The students receiving their Premier’s Excellence Award medals today have demonstrated amazing academic abilities and concern for their communities,” Education Minister Shirley Bond said. “They are the leaders of tomorrow – the doctors, scientists, engineers and others who will make a difference to our province, and perhaps to the world.”

The Premier’s Excellence Award encourages high-achieving B.C. students to continue their post-secondary education in British Columbia. Since studies show graduates often pursue careers close to the institutions where they earned their degrees, this award increases the likelihood that B.C.’s top high school graduates will stay here to become part of the province’s highly educated workforce.

Other scholarships offered through the ministry include the Queen Elizabeth II B.C. Centennial Scholarship (including a major scholarship of $60,000), and Pacific Leaders fellowships and scholarships for future public servants and children of provincial government employees. In addition, government has endowed the Irving K. Barber B.C. Scholarship Society to provide scholarships for students transferring within the public post-secondary system, students who will be studying abroad and Aboriginal students. Details are online at www.studentaidbc.ca.

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1 backgrounder(s) attached.
Media contact:	Gordon Williams Communications Director Ministry of Advanced Education 250 952-6508 250 413-7316 (cell)

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