Open Letter to the Nova Scotia Government on Cuts to African Nova Scotian Learner Supports
March 4, 2026
Dear Tim Houston, Premier of Nova Scotia, and Brendan Maguire, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, and Minister of Advanced Education:
The PREP Academy writes to express deep concern regarding the recent provincial budget decision to reduce and eliminate funding dedicated to Black Learner initiatives, including the complete elimination of The PREP Academy’s $480,000 investment in our Postsecondary Preparation Program for African Nova Scotian high school students through the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, African Canadian Services Branch.
The PREP Academy is committed to advancing educational equity for African Nova Scotian youth through culturally responsive mentorship, wraparound supports, coaching, and structured pathways to postsecondary completion. As a community hub serving hundreds of students and families across Nova Scotia, The PREP Academy works to increase the number of learners who are prepared for, enroll in, and complete postsecondary education.
Our holistic approach ensures students are not only accepted into postsecondary institutions, but prepared to persist and complete. We exist to bridge a long-standing and well-documented gap in access, preparation, and completion rates for students from historic African Nova Scotian communities. Since our founding in 2021, PREP has supported over 1,000 students across the province, with 107 students currently enrolled in postsecondary programs across the province and beyond. These numbers reflect not only the demand for our work, but the tangible impact of investing in Black student success.
We were created because barriers persist.
We exist because access is not equal.
We operate because pathways to postsecondary education have not historically been accessible to all.
The PREP Academy has operated as a provincial Education Partner in advancing the very priorities the government has publicly committed to: improving educational outcomes, addressing systemic inequities, advancing the Calls to Action of the BLAC Report, and increasing representation and economic participation among African Nova Scotian communities.
This investment was not symbolic. It was structural. It allowed The PREP Academy to:
– Deliver culturally relevant mentorship and coaching
– Provide one-on-one postsecondary transition support
– Connect students with postsecondary and industry partners
– Administer scholarships and reduce financial barriers
– Support families navigating complex systems
– Sustain community-based programming across Nova Scotia
The elimination of The PREP Academy’s funding removes coordinated support and mentorship capacity. The elimination of scholarships removes direct financial access.
Together, these cuts significantly increase the risk that students who have worked hard to secure admission will be unable to enroll, or will enroll and be unable to remain. When withdrawal rates increase, long-term economic mobility declines. There is a heightened risk of increased dropout rates among students who were relying on these scholarships to attend and remain in postsecondary education. These consequences are especially severe for Black learners, who are disproportionately impacted by financial barriers and whose educational pathways are more vulnerable to disruption.
There is a heightened risk of increased dropout rates among students who were relying on The PREP Academy and scholarships to attend and remain in postsecondary education. We are already hearing from students and parents asking whether tuition will be affordable this fall. Anxiety is rising in communities that have fought for generations to gain equitable educational opportunity. African Nova Scotian youth continue to face persistent systemic barriers, including limited culturally responsive guidance, underrepresentation in curriculum and leadership, geographic constraints, generational mistrust of institutions, and financial inequities that restrict enrollment and completion.
Educational equity cannot exist without sustained infrastructure.
Removing targeted, community-based supports risks reversing measurable progress. When access is reduced, enrollment declines. When mentorship declines, persistence suffers. When scholarships disappear, systemic inequities widen. Now is not the time to retreat from equity-based commitments.
The social and economic future of Nova Scotia depends on ensuring that every community has equitable access to education and career pathways. Investments in African Nova Scotian youth are not expenditures, they are long-term economic and community development strategies.
The PREP Academy stands ready to collaborate. We believe in partnership, accountability, and collective impact. We remain committed to ensuring that African Nova Scotian students are inspired, prepared, supported to enroll, and positioned to complete postsecondary education successfully.
We urge you to reconsider the elimination of The PREP Academy’s funding, and other funding that directly impacts the success of black learners, and carefully assess the long-term consequences of these decisions, and the opportunity before us to protect and strengthen the pathways that so many families have worked hard to build.
Respectfully,
Ashley Hill
Founder & Executive Director
The PREP Academy
ashley@theprepacademy.ca