To respond to the Honourable Member's concern, the Commission would note that more than half of the Indian students who have received scholarships under Erasmus to study in Europe intend to study science and technology.

Our members administer student financial aid programs, including the Canada student loans program, various provincial student assistance programs, institutional scholarships and bursaries, and work-study programs.

12. Proposes, in order to utilise human resources more effectively, targeted support programmes in the area of education, and in particular the opening up of the Erasmus programme to students from Latin America and the Caribbean;

Some of the major decreases include the following: $300 million for the reduction in the forecast of the public debt interest and servicing costs; $265.7 million due to the decrease in resources related to assistance activities to Kosovo, as well as the termination of the Canadian Forces presence in Kosovo; $245 million for the reduction in grants to the trustees of the Registered Educational Savings Program; $204 million for the Canada Student Loans Program, due to changes in financing arrangements for student loans and student assistance as a result of the move to directly ...[+++] financed students loans; $174.4 million for the decrease in repayment terms for loans advanced to departments and agencies to meet the government's wide priority of Year 2000 readiness; $81.3 million in compensation for collective agreements; $72.3 million for the decrease due to the budgetary transfer for the establishment of the Canadian Tourism Commission as a Crown corporation; $67.1 owing to the winding down of the Millennium Bureau's activities in 2000-2002 on millennium activities, projects and celebrations.

These include the Canada Millennium Scholarship Fund, averaging $3,000 for more than 100,000 low- and middle-income Canadians; , Canada Study Grants for over 25,000 students who are in financial need and have children or other dependents; enhanced assistance for advanced research and for graduate students through increased funding for the three granting councils; help for graduates in managing their student debt loads through tax relief for interest on student loans; improvements to the Canada Student Loans Program to help individuals ...[+++] facing financial difficulties; and Canada Education Savings Grants, a grant of 20 per cent on the first 2,000 contributions made each year to registered education savings plans to ensure that families can better save for their children's future education.

CASFAA is of the opinion that a national work study program and a Canada study grant for high-need students, together with the measures announced in the 1998 federal budget, can make student aid an effective and comprehensive student support program.