Yes, and I agree and I accept that. I was told that special consideration would be given for this particular case, for those who fit into that section. I understand that there has been no one who has taken advantage of that but, I guess, my point is that there is a gap in this. There are people, students with disabilities who are excluded from this still. Even with this provision and those are students who would not qualify under this program because the schools that they are attending would not be considered a post-secondary education by conventional definition because here you have to have a diploma or a degree.
I have been pursuing this with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment over the last three, four, five days in the House and months beyond that outside of the House in my communication with him, and I keep repeating this, and I think this is a really important point, because there is a gap in our law and our policy to deal with students with disabilities, who are not able to be in a conventional post-secondary educational setting. This sort of special consideration caters to more than physical disabilities, for lack of better words. But, what about those students who have disabilities that impede their learning and those who get through inclusive schooling that we provide up to Grade 12 and then various other programs that they enter into.
The one I've been talking about is a vocational transition program. For me and to the people that are in this program, that is their post-secondary education. That would allow them to move into a career that would get them to maximize their talent and potential. Although it is not a degree or a diploma program, in the conventional sense, that is what is going to keep them away from the income support line or from continuing to have to rely on their family. It is post-secondary education as much as any other, whether it be with the student financial assistance under the Department of Education, Culture and Employment or with this special government program that has been highly successful. That section of our society is being ignored. I acknowledged that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment indicated that he is working with the federal government and there is a program called employability being set up and so forth. But my question still to the Premier and the government is, when we have a Minister designated for disability and when we espouse the principle of protecting and acknowledging the rights of disabilities, why do we continue to forget to add their situation into consideration when we are making a policy? Thank you.