Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, in my Member’s statement, I spoke about daycare programs in Lutselk’e and Fort Resolution. I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
According to the department’s website, the department put out a document called Framework for Action: Early Childhood Development in May 2001. Can the Minister tell me if the department has released anything more recently on childhood development?
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. That Early Childhood Program has been successful in the communities, especially in the smaller communities where we provide funding to the Aboriginal Head Start Program or preschool. The Family Literacy Program is part of the Literacy Strategy 2008-2018. And also the day homes that we’ve been promoting for a number of years now. We continue to promote those particular programs because we want those programs to be successful. Early childhood is important for education so we can see some success in those areas. I can certainly provide the Member or Members more detailed information in that respect.
Within our work with the Committee on Sustainable Rural and Remote Communities we have allocated money to early childhood development. Can the Minister of ECE advise me if any of that money will be targeted to daycares?
The money that we’ve identified in the past and going forward in early childhood consists of many aspects of facilities that we sponsor in the Northwest Territories. I can certainly provide the breakdown to the Member of the past sponsors that we’ve had and it does vary. If I’m going to speak to it, it’s a bit of a long list. Certainly that information can be shared with the Members whenever it is requested. I can do that.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise me if his Department of Education, Culture and Employment has done any assessments pertaining to school success and its direct correlation with daycares in those communities?
Mr. Speaker, I’m glad the Member is asking that question. It is important to highlight that. There have been numerous assessments with regard to whether it be the daycare, having young ones in school, if they’re succeeding on to kindergarten or grade 1, what that status is on in that respect. Those are areas we continue to work with. We continue to work with education councils, as well, in the district education authority, because those are important factors that we need to consider. When we talk about the business planning process, those are the key targets that we need to discuss with those parties. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister direct his staff to contact and work the daycare programs in Lutselk'e and Fort Resolution to review their needs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I can certainly commit my regional staff to work with the community that the Member is referring to. Not only that, but working with the education councils as well, because we provide funding to education for facilities and operations of the schools and the daycare. It all varies in the different communities how we sponsor them, so certainly I’ll commit to that, to provide more information to the Member. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
