Alfred Moses

Currently there isn't a timeline set in place. Obviously, we have to make sure that we do have appropriate time to go through the schools, with the staff, and have that idea of which classrooms are used for instructional hours and other classrooms that might be used for storage or other areas of use that were put forth by the school and together, collectively, decide which classrooms should be used for instructional classrooms, and identify that utilization rate. I don't have a timeline, but I will make sure the department comes back with something. I will share that with the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. First and foremost, this government has set out a mandate in the 18th Legislative Assembly to provide early childhood programs throughout the NWT. This will, however, significantly change how we roll out junior kindergarten to our communities. All education authorities are well into their implementation efforts into junior kindergarten and making it a reality in every school come this academic year, in 201718. The 20 communities that currently run junior kindergartens have been doing it very well, and it has been received there very well and are highly successful.

I can't...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has made a commitment in its mandate to close the skills gap by strengthening the apprenticeship program. Later today, I will be tabling the Apprenticeship, Trades and Occupational Certification Strategy 2017-2022. Mr. Speaker, this five-year strategy outlines how the Government of the Northwest Territories will strengthen our apprenticeship and occupational certification program. Since the program began, there have been approximately 4,700 apprentices certified, and today there are more than 400 men and women...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we did commit to fully funding junior kindergarten, we did base those on projected four-year-olds from the previous year, and we already are committing to the 12 to 1 ratio of how we fund junior kindergarten. Those numbers were put in for when we said we were going to be fully funding JK, and that announcement was made during the budget address. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we continue to work with education authorities and families continue to look at enrolling four-year-olds into the junior kindergarten program, we will have a better stance, after this initial setup, on enrollments. I can provide the Member with those numbers as we get them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and as stated in my previous comments, we are committed to giving updates on the implementation, monitoring the outcomes of STIP, as well as continuing to work with our STIP committee, and with the standing committee on social programs, to give them updates as well. The motion that was brought before us, currently in front of us here, is one that Cabinet can support, and we will also be supporting this motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have committed to fully funding junior kindergarten, as we have said on many occasions. With the funding formulas, that is something that we constantly review. Like anything else, our policies, in terms of the concerns that were brought up in terms of fully funding junior kindergarten, we still don't know the full numbers, so we are still working with our education authorities. Once we have those education authorities, we will look at going through the appropriate supplementary budgetary process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Member for bringing forward this proposed amendment. As Minister responsible for Education, I believe that the NWT superintendents, principals, and teachers know their students best. They want their students to be successful as do all of us here in this House and to have a variety of options available to them upon completion of their high school program.

Schools will schedule the appropriate hours of instructions that they believe their students require to successfully complete their coursework. I think it is important for all Members to remember that the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think communication is an issue that we need to work on, but it also needs to be addressed through partnerships with our education authorities working with our board chairs to ensure that this message gets out to teachers. I did attend some of the public hearings as well as constituency meetings where we had parents who were just getting this information presented to them. However, I know some of our education authorities did reach out as well, including us, and we did try to get the communication on the radio and in the newspapers, get it out as much as we can to get...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I said, we will take a look at it. When we do get the funds back, it is still going to be under, but we fund the ratio of 16 to 1. With the inclusive schooling, we will still be funding above what we fund for inclusive schooling. Thank you, Mr. Chair.