Alfred Moses

In the Member's riding, junior kindergarten has been rolled out over a number of years. We haven't really heard any concerns from them. We're actually hearing really good positive feedback of how junior kindergarten has been implemented in Nahendeh. The department is working with education authorities, as I had mentioned yesterday, to examine the requirements such as busing, such as safety. Of course, safety is the forefront and priority within our education authorities, as well as at the department. So when we speak with our staff and our education authorities and our superintendents, of...

With the consultation that we've had with residents of the Northwest Territories as well as our school boards, we have made those changes to ensure that early childhood educators can be part of instructors within the JK system and doesn't necessarily have to have a degree. It's the flexibility of the school boards to determine whether the JK instructors can be an early childhood educator or have to have that degree in education.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the report that we tabled last year, of course, we go out and we speak with all our stakeholders. As Minister responsible for Education, it is my duty to ensure that all families, all children, have access to the same quality of education and the best start at life when they start their education careers. Currently there are 11 communities in the Northwest Territories that do not have any licenced early childhood programs. As a government, we have to make sure that we provide services that give every family, every child, the equal opportunity to have the best start...

As I mentioned, we fund education authorities on enrolments. We've seen low enrolments. The funding that we usually give on the previous year's budget, they've been lower, so that funding that we usually get, we're using that, and reprofiling it in junior kindergarten. It's because of low enrolment rates.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in answering these questions previously, the $5.1 million that's going to be needed to implement junior kindergarten is a commitment for this government, and we are meeting with the superintendents and the education authorities to see how we're going to be rolling out this funding, and the numbers are correct. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, junior kindergarten is going to be optional to families, and secondly I also mentioned that we enhanced our early childhood programming to daycares and day homes. We see that there's a lot of waiting lists across the Northwest Territories for daycares and day homes that offer programming for zero to five, and the infants we've increased the funding. So I think that those messages need to be put out there for daycares and day homes and that it is optional for families.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just for clarification, we are fully funding implementation of junior kindergarten. The Member asked questions about the surplus situation. Although the DECs across the territory have a combined surplus of $10 million, the Member's riding, the Deh Cho DEC, is currently in an accumulated deficit position as a result of onetime costs such as termination benefits and employee removals. The department is working with the DDEC to come up with a plan to recover that deficit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, under the original plan for funding junior kindergarten, we had asked education authorities to cover $2.76 million through a reallocation of existing funding that was provided, which was about 1.76 per cent. This amount will now be covered by the $2.7 million in new funding that was announced yesterday.

As mentioned, there are a lot of applications right across the board. The Youth Contributions is one that's run through MACA, and any community can access that program. Just apply to the regional office. I encourage all small communities that want to apply to that program to apply as soon as possible in the new fiscal year, because I believe it is on a firstcome, firstserved basis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Aurora College Annual Report, 2015-2016." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.