A grant of $800,000 will be divided up between the province's eight regional colleges, including Southeast Regional College, to help provide better access to educational services and improve on-line training.

Post-Secondary Education Minister Glenn Hagel announced the new funding in Weyburn on Wednesday at the college. The grant comes through the provincial government's Centenary Capital Fund which was announced in this year's budget.

The funding is to be used to offer services such as increased access to on-line training and services for students in their home communities, and enhanced access to learning resources via technology.

Hagel didn't know how much Southeast Regional College would get from this total amount, saying a review committee will look at the needs of each particular college and disperse the funds accordingly.

"What we're doing is supporting the system; different colleges have different kinds of needs," said Hagel.

The minister said the extra funding was due in part to a consultation round of visits he and Education Minister Jim Melenchuk made in the spring, prior to the handing down of the budget. As part of their visit to Weyburn, Hagel met with staff and some students at the college to find out their views on how education funding could be improved.

"The message I heard here very well was the need for better affordability. In rural Saskatchewan it's the cost of learning away from home that's the real barrier in terms of access. If you want to keep improving affordability, we have to keep working on the notion of bringing the campus to the student," said Hagel, adding many people have said they appreciate the regional colleges as they bring post-secondary education into smaller communities.

As the national chairman for the council of education ministers, Hagel said Saskatchewan's regional college system is still unique in Canada as the system marks its 25th year, and predicted the colleges will continue to provide educational services into the 21st century.

Hagel said the increase in on-line learning doesn't means campuses will disappear.

"It enhances the delivery of education within the campus itself as well as on-line services," said the minister.

"Some of the key recommendations in the report of the Regional Colleges Review Committee focussed on using technology to increase access to training and to enhance learning. This funding will help us to meet this goal," said Southeast Regional College president Art Whetstone, who was unavailable for comment this week, but provided a statement in a news release.

Southeast Regional College will be moving into a joint facility with the Weyburn Comprehensive School by next June, and will be joint partners in a new multi-media learning lab funded by a legacy grant from PanCanadian Petroleum. Hagel wasn't sure if this project will be eligible for any of the provincial funding, but said the review committee will look at all of the college's needs for on-line learning and technology.