“Effective immediately, the Rutherford Scholarship is open and accepting applications. Students and parents can rest assured that all eligible students will receive their awards on time and as normal without any delay or interruption.

“I want to be clear: the Rutherford Scholarship should never have been affected by the technology upgrade. There was miscommunication within the department and when I found out, I took immediate steps to address the issue to ensure that this important service is available to students across Alberta.

“Students and parents no longer need to worry about application deadlines for the Rutherford Scholarship.

“Again, the Rutherford Scholarship is open and students can apply normally and expect processing and payments to occur as usual.

“I am working closely with my department officials to ensure there are no further complications as the new IT system is rolled out.”