Alfred Moses

Currently we've got information out there to all parents who are enrolling their four-year-olds into junior kindergarten. We're getting information out to the board chairs. We're meeting with superintendents to see the rollout of how junior kindergarten is going to look in 2017-18 school year, so we're working with the stakeholders to make sure that it's a smooth transition.

Obviously, we've still got to wait for some numbers of students who are being enrolled. As you do know, it is an optional program for schools, and they also have the option of a half day or full day, so some of the things...

As I mentioned, those initial dollars helped set off the implementation of junior kindergarten in 20 of our 33 communities, so it's ongoing funding from the beginning, the onset, and if the Member and committee would like a briefing on it, a detailed briefing on junior kindergarten, I'd be more than willing to do that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, we always review our programs, our services, how much money is spent in previous budgets to this year's budget. Looking at the reductions with some of the education authorities, there was administration area in the amount the Member mentioned of the total contribution. So it was about $800,000 of the total contribution of $155 million, or about 0.52 per cent of the total contribution provided to the education authorities.

As I mentioned, the department continues to maintain the funding levels for inclusive schooling. We work very collaboratively with the Department of Health and Social Services to do assessments, support children with disabilities, developmental needs. We are developing and revising a JK to Grade 9 health curriculum in order to ensure preventative approaches to children's health are included. A lot of areas we are continuing to work on to address some of the concerns that are being brought forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That money helped roll out junior kindergarten to 20 of our 33 communities across the Northwest Territories and is an ongoing funding that we are moving forward with. It is the same with the new dollars that are coming through. As we roll out junior kindergarten, it will be funding that will be provided to our education authorities. With inclusive schooling, it seems like it is a concern of the Member. We also work with the Department of Health and Social Services to provide a range of programs and services to diagnose and support children with disabilities and...

That goes back to the 17th Legislative Assembly. I don't have that initial detail, but I can get that number for the Member and get back to him.

I do believe we're meeting our mandate as well as some of the recommendations that came out of the TRC Report. They are recommendations, but our government was doing a lot of this work already. We did present this to our Council of Ministers of Education across Canada this past summer. A lot of jurisdictions took interest into the work that we're doing here in the Northwest Territories in our curriculum, in our early childhood programming, so that they can look at what we're doing to meet those recommendations, and I feel that we are a leader across Canada meeting some of those recommendations...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I don't. Any students who go through our current education system go through an Aboriginal language culture-based education, so they get all the relevant information, the experiences, on-the-land programs, languages in their schools and their communities, and anyone who hasn't received it and comes back to the Northwest Territories GNWT does also have a cultural awareness program through the Human Resources Department. As well, we do have teacher cultural orientation days that our department has made mandatory to anybody who comes and works for the department of ECE...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Two of the key factors in community wellness and safety are education and partnership. Every person and organization across the Northwest Territories has something to contribute to help make our communities healthy and safe.

At the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, all of our programs and services follow a continuum of strategies, building on the foundation of others. These strategies are designed to address community and residents' needs from early childhood through to ensuring Northerners have the skills, attitudes, and opportunities for success.

Mr...

Inclusive schooling, the funding is allocated for students who do need extra help in the classroom to offset some of the concerns and developmental concerns that we're seeing in some of our students. So initially it was there to provide assistance to help our students achieve better outcomes. So that's initially what the dollars were implemented for.