TORONTO - Ontario's opposition parties went on the attack against the self-described "education premier" Monday after learning the Liberal government had quietly scaled back grants for college and university students.

Last year, Premier Dalton McGuinty introduced a $385-million program to provide a $150 textbook and technology grant for post-secondary students and a $500 travel grant for students who must commute or move more than 80 kilometres to attend school.

But the government quietly changed the rules so anyone who does not qualify for student aid also won't get the textbook or distance grants.

"You're going back on your promise and taking away the last little thing left for thousands of students," NDP education critic Rosario Marchese told McGuinty in the legislature.

"The tiny little textbook incentive was supposed to grow, not be snatched away (and) now students in rural areas will face one more obstacle to their education."

McGuinty said he was proud of the grant program initiated last year, but admitted the government was scaling back the grants because of the faltering economy.

"We're now staring into the face of a worldwide recession, and we've had to make some adjustments," he told the legislature.

"We've got to act responsibly. We've had to trim things a little bit given our financial circumstances."

McGuinty said 72 per cent of students who received the textbook and technology grants last year would be eligible again this year, but the NDP disputed the premier's figures.

"I don't know where he's getting his numbers," Marchese said.

"The only students who will be eligible are those who are on OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program), and that's not the majority."

The Progressive Conservatives said they were left shaking their heads at McGuinty's move to scale back the grants, and insisted the Liberals could have found savings elsewhere that wouldn't affect cash-strapped students.

"It doesn't make any sense when you look at the burden that students are having to bear today (and) the fact that we have the highest tuition rates in the country," said interim Opposition Leader Bob Runciman.

"There are so many areas of government that we could point to, or his own people could point to, to find efficiencies and savings."

Runciman complained the general public doesn't seem to be paying close attention to the Ontario government, which he said is leading to some arrogance and another broken promise by McGuinty.

"Hopefully over the next couple of years we can raise those awareness levels and his arrogance will backfire on him," he said.

The opposition parties said because Ontario universities are 10th in the country in per-capita funding, they have larger class sizes, fewer tenured professors and soaring tuition fees, which leave most students to graduate with an average debt of $23,000 or more.

However, McGuinty said his government has steadily increased spending on education since taking office, including more help for students.

"We have more than doubled student assistance since 2004 (and) we have almost tripled the number of grants," the premier said. "Now one in four students, approximately 120,000, are receiving non-repayable grants."