A Colombian teen turned away

Letters to the editor - Editor:

During the last couple of months, I have been following the journey of Santiago Lopez, a Colombian teen who arrived in Canada last September with the intention of being enrolled in the high school program in Charlottetown.

Because of his status, the P.E.I. Department of Education and Early Childhood Education declared that Santiago is not eligible for free school privileges.

Santiago came to live with Alejandro and Monica Ceballos, his uncle and aunt. In order to be eligible, Alejandro and Monica have to demonstrate that Santiago is supposed to be with 'legal guardians.' Even though a local lawyer drew up an agreement between them and Santiago's parents, it has been seen as a 'custodianship agreement' not as 'a legal guardianship'. In the School Act, a parent includes a guardian and a person who has custody of or access to a student under an enactment or by virtue of any court order but it does not include a foster parent or the director of child welfare.

Santiago would be able to go to school only if he pays the tuition that has been estimated at $5,000 a semester, an impossible amount for a family of newcomers.

Today, I received a call from Santiago. He is considering the option of returning to Colombia and leaving behind this Canadian dream.

I know that the Department of Education does not want to set a precedent with Santiago's case so we won't be inundated with requests from people that come to P.E.I. in the same situation. I am also aware of the emails that describe immigrants as vampires that come to Canada to suck up all the resources we have. However, I am also a witness to the tradition of generosity of Islanders.

We are founded on the principle of compassion. Why, then, do we close the doors of the school to someone who wants to study but does not have the resources? I wonder if $5,000 or $10,000 would be a stumbling block for many others who would like to come to live, study and work here in P.E.I.

Fr. John Molina,

Morell,

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Pastoral Unit