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Applications for the Rutherford scholarships have opened following a flood of concerns from post-secondary students and their families.

“It’s an incredibly important application and should have never been in this situation where it was not available,” said Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in an interview Tuesday.

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Concerns began circulating on social media Sunday after families couldn’t submit an application for the scholarship, initially expected to open Aug. 1.

The delay was blamed on a “major technology upgrade” to the province’s student aid system, postponing all scholarship applications until late fall rather than the beginning of August, as per prior years.

But Nicolaides said the upgrade didn’t impact the Rutherford scholarship at all.

“I’m still digging to find out more information from the department,” he said. “I’ve been working to make sure that there’s very strong and clear communication with the department.”