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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Weeks after university students received e-mails informing them that merit-based scholarships were getting the axe this fall, the territory's education minister has stepped forward to defend the cuts.

Jackson Lafferty said the scholarship program had to die so that the overall Student Financial Assistance program could survive without more cutbacks.

"As (the minister for) Education, Culture, and Employment, I was given a target and that target had to be met and we had to do what we had to do within our department," said Jackson Lafferty, minister of Education, Culture, and Employment.

"We have to weigh our options to say 'OK, should we cut the 1,400 students' programming or go with the high academic students programs?' That's the decision we had to make. The scholarships were an added incentive for those students with high academic marks, so we figured that there are other scholarships out there, so we could probably get by with that."

Student Financial Assistance has been funded at $12.4 million this year. The scholarship program cost the government $400,000 a year.

The minister added that the maximum student financial assistance funding for students has gone up to $60,000 from $40,000.

"We have to keep in mind that the scholarship is not based on need, it's based on academic performance," he said.

NWT students have been clamouring for weeks since the scholarship cuts, which were announced March 26. Those include students in medical school or obtaining doctorates, who will see an end to their grade-based scholarships - up to $10,000 a year -before they graduate.

In response, Lafferty said students with high marks should be eligible for many other scholarships, including those from universities or colleges.

When asked if the scholarships will be reinstated when the economy recovers, Lafferty said, "I can't say for sure today that we will be investing in a new scholarship program. We don't know how it's going to go."