Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today in my Member’s statement, I referred to a passage in the recently tabled Education Renewal and Innovation Framework, and it stated: “by Grade 4 the average NWT student has already missed half a year of school, or two full years by Grade 10.”
Truancy or attendance concerns are not only unique to the NWT but are a critical barrier to our students’ success and their achievement. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Admittedly, upon review of the ECE framework, it only dedicates one page of this truancy concern in its framework for change document, with little to offer in terms of potential initiatives to address this barrier. Can the Minister of Education indicate as to why so little attention to truancy?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The truancy is obviously an important area for education renewal. The issue of attendance is being actively discussed at the national stage and also internationally. One of the reasons, I guess, for education change is it is happening everywhere. Alberta is changing their whole education system.
The Member is correct that some of the students are missing up to one day a week of school, which translates into almost two years. We’ve had discussion with that Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative as well. This is not acceptable and it compromises the students’ success in the future. Yes, it may be one page, but it’s a start, and we will be building on that. Truancy and attendance and all those areas are key factors in our discussion to deal with these students.
I’m looking forward to hearing more about that in due course. Can the Minister indicate what role are parents, educators, administrators and our elected community leadership playing within this new framework to address poor attendance in our schools?
The parents and also other stakeholders are actively engaged. The parents, we’ve been told through our engagement, that the parental involvement is a must. Having release of this document in this House and also part of our media release was that we have partners there as well through DEAs and DECs. The NWTTA was part of that. TCSA as the chair was represented at that level.
We want to engage almost everybody across the Northwest Territories because it will have an impact not only the schools, but at home, with the grandparents, the parents. We have to encourage those students that they have to be engaged in the school activities as well. It’s everybody’s role to be part, so we will be reaching out to those individuals.
I’m encouraged that the Minister is encouraged. Elders play an integral part in teaching us many life skills, or at least they should be. These role models serve as mentors for our youth and could assist with attendance issues.
What is the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment doing to facilitate more elders in our schools?
We have rolled out the Elders in Schools Program starting this September, and it’s based on the Members voicing their concerns and ideas in this House. We have developed an action towards that. It is a small start. We want to focus on the regions and on to all communities, the schools. We want to cover 49 schools eventually, and we will get there. Elders play a pivotal and very important role. I fully support that, as well, and we have started that this September. We want to increase that next year as well.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One solution to achieve better school attendance in remote regions found in many other countries is the creation of a school calendar and daily timetable that is negotiated with the community and school to achieve a better fit for the students. Can the Minister indicate, have such school calendar models been researched and could we expect to see such models piloted in our NWT schools?
Yes, school calendar and scheduling has been part of some of the schools. Now we have to coordinate with the DEAs and DECs, because some of the schools, as the Member alluded to, there are success stories and some of the students are moving on to post-secondary and coming back and working for the Northwest Territories. There are success stories. Based on that, the school calendars and the scheduling, we have to take those into consideration, as well, on the education renewal and working with the DEAs and DECs as well as our true partners.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister’s new renewal of the education system in the Northwest Territories is refreshing. It talks about some of the things that we need to do, and as I read the report the facts stare right in my face and the problem is really huge, and the government is responding to these problems. I want to ask the Minister, with his discussion with Mr. Menicoche, in the short-term, has the Minister and his department considered offering Grade 12 in our high schools, because the quality of our diplomas are not as high as we think they are.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Part of the process, of course, is re-evaluating the overall education system, the programming that we’re delivering into our schools. Alberta, of course, is going through some changes as well. We follow their curriculum, their departmental exams. If there are changes at that level, we have to monitor that, take that into consideration and follow through with our education system.
Yes, there will be some changes that will reflect on our northern perspective, and we want to have a curriculum that is comparable, on par, at a Canadian level. That is our goal and that is our objective.
I wanted to say Grade 13. I said Grade 12, but I wanted to say Grade 13. That will give the students the added time of one year to catch up so they can either go right to work or go to a college or post-secondary education. Give them that transition for them to do a Grade 13. Add that as a course for these students who are graduating from Grade 12 and we know that the diploma doesn’t quite get them into a post-secondary or college or a university program.
Can the Minister look at a short-term solution to have that offered in our small communities as a Grade 13 education schooling in our small communities or in the North?
As I stated earlier, we’re open to ideas and suggestions, but this is the first time I’ve heard about Grade 13 through the engagement that we’ve had. It hasn’t been brought up but it’s been brought up now, so we can have that part of our discussion. I know that Ontario had Grade 13 before, and they got away from that, so we have to find out the pros and cons at that level, as well, but surely we can take those into consideration as we move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I’m looking at what can we do for our students who are graduating with a Grade 12 diploma. Sometimes a diploma is not as strong as we want it to be. I’m looking at ways we can build self-esteem and self-confidence for these Grade 12 graduates. Having a Grade 13 in our high schools would give them that confidence, so when they apply for college in Fort Smith or any other college in the Northwest Territories or a post-university institution down south, it would make them feel that, yes, I do have an incredible diploma. If we have a Grade 13 program in our schools, that would fit them into…other than just to send them out and apply for Aurora College upgrading programs or an access program. This would be more successful.
I ask the Minister again, in his search for solutions and better education in the North, is this something that he would investigate with his department and colleagues and say, can we do this?
Mr. Speaker, certainly that will be part of the option that we can consider as we discuss part of the action plan and moving forward. Again, reiterating that this is the first I heard on the Grade 13. We haven’t heard that before. It will be new to the Northwest Territories. By all means, we can definitely be discussing that. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know our students can do it. Last year at the Colville Lake high school, there were three graduates and they did it through the new technology. I’m looking at these small communities and I’m asking that this Grade 13 concept be seen in the minds of the people in the Northwest Territories and see if it has some value in offering this type of program.
Would the Minister be able to report back to the Assembly on this concept by the end of this year and say, yes, it has value? Would he be able to do that?
Mr. Speaker, we will be conducting research and see what we come up with and I will be sharing that with the standing committee. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are also addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I want to follow up on my statement and discuss a proposed action within that Education Renewal and Innovation document. I talked to it in my statement that it seems that the department and the Minister are suggesting and fairly firm on going forward with junior kindergarten. The document that we have that was tabled talks about poor learning readiness. I’d like to reiterate my feeling in my statement that we don’t get learning readiness if we start at age four; we get it if we start at age zero.
I’d like to ask the Minister how the decision to go forward with junior kindergarten was reached. He referenced an article from the United Kingdom which says that it’s wonderful. I’ve seen several articles in the last month or so which indicate that junior kindergarten and kindergarten are not all that great. They are good for two years, but beyond that not.
How did the department and the Minister reach the decision that junior kindergarten was the way to go and where we should spend our money? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We talked about junior kindergarten along with other initiatives that we want to start working towards as part of our Early Childhood Development Framework and rolling out the action plan towards that. Part of that discussion is thinking about junior kindergarten. From what we’ve heard, we’ve heard over and over that we have to start from an early age.
There have been several reports. The Member and other Members, as well, reported on various research. One of the reports, of course, is from Ontario, that has very encouraging results, with a 7 percent increase in the number of children who are ready for Grade 1 learning as measured by Early Development Instruments. Those are just some of the areas, and it’s very important to recognize that kindergarten is also an option for the NWT; it’s not mandatory. Those are just some of the things we are considering as part of our approach on these initiatives. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister. At the risk of being contrary, I would like to say to the Minister that there is also an article that talks about Ontario’s kindergarten and that any benefits from junior kindergarten and kindergarten are lost by grade 3 or 4 and everybody is back to being on the same level, so I don’t think junior kindergarten is the panacea he’s suggesting.
We have a couple of junior kindergarten pilots right now. From what I understand, at least one of them, and I suspect all of them, are in a classroom combined with kindergarten, so you have junior kindergarten students in the same classroom as kindergarten students. From what I hear, that’s not working very well at all.
I would like to know from the Minister, if we go forward with junior kindergarten, what is the plan of the department to house kindergarten and junior kindergarten in our schools. Will they be in the same room or will they have their own classrooms? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I will just again reiterate some of the findings. Long-term studies found that academic gains of entry to school will shorten a very few years at the beginning, but pay out significantly later in adolescence and adulthood. Those are just some of the school completion learning having an effective lifestyle.
When it comes to a proposed junior kindergarten, we have to work with the DEAs and DECs as well. We are working closely, of course, with Health and Social Services, as well, because it will have very positive ripple effects into our communities. These are just the preliminary findings that we’ve had and the action plan pertaining to that. We will be working very closely with all of the stakeholders that are at hand. Mahsi.
Thanks to the Minister. The Minister speaks to research that talks about junior kindergarten and kindergarten and the benefits of that, and has been pointed out by Mr. Bromley many times and myself a number of times, the science also, and the research particularly, supports the larger gains that are made when we provide the early childhood programs for zero to three.
If we do implement junior kindergarten, it’s going to be a very costly venture. I have no idea what the estimate of the amount of money that’s going to be required, but if we put junior kindergarten into every one of our 49 schools – I think it’s 49 we have – that’s going to be a lot of money.
I’d like to ask the Minister how he expects that junior kindergarten will be funded. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the proposed junior kindergarten obviously is an investment into our schools, into our children. Obviously, we have to find funds to offset the costs. We are exploring those areas and we need to move forward on this. Now we have a framework that’s been tabled in this House and an action plan is part of that moving forward. The junior kindergarten has been proposed. I believe it will benefit the children, the schools and the communities, the regions, the whole Northwest Territories, comparable to other junior kindergartens in Ontario and other places. We want to be on par with other jurisdictions as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Minister that anything we do for our children is an investment, but I believe again that he is misplaced in putting the investment in junior kindergarten as opposed to investing in our children from birth to three years of age.
Knowing that the research says that the science proves that the earlier we invest, the better the results later on, I would like to ask the Minister if he would consider, in the development of this action plan, putting off implementing junior kindergarten for at least five years until we can see the effects of early childhood development programs on our kids from birth to zero or four. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the proposed junior kindergarten has been highlighted. We did share with the standing committee, as well, what the plan is. From what we’ve heard from the general public, our engagement has told us that we have start from an early age, as well, so those individuals will be prepared when they enter K-12. So, we need to roll out the program. Part of the action plan will cover that. So, I will be informing the standing committee on the progress at that level. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Yellowknife Center, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I talked about social workers and the need for social work training and the appropriate education that could rightly fit in at Aurora College.
As we all know, you can parachute somebody into the North but that doesn’t necessarily truly make them a Northerner. It’s almost something that has to be born and bred into your DNA. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education a particular question about the department’s point of view when it comes to Northerners.
Does the department feel that trained, northern graduates who are Northerners have a longer-term investment into the future of the North? As such, do you think that Northerners represent the culture and language of communities better here in the North than southern transplants? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Indeed, the northern graduates are very beneficial to the Northwest Territories, to our communities and to our regions. So we continue to push forward the delivery of certification, diplomas, degree programs and even into master’s programs nowadays in our Aurora College, the three campuses that we have. We are starting to build on our strength with delivering various programs into communities; we’ll continue to push that forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We know, without any doubt, that the Minister is a strong advocate for language, culture and small communities. As the Minister and from the department’s point of view, does the Minister believe that small communities and, more specifically, First Nations families and Northerners, would they be more receptive of social workers trained here in the Northwest Territories that are both culturally and, in a language context, familiar with this environment, versus southern-trained social workers who take these jobs and are trained elsewhere outside the North? Thank you.
The Social Work Program has been very successful to date in the Northwest Territories. We had some previous graduates, 24 grads in the last five years. So the numbers may not be as high, but those are just some of the key areas, the key findings, that we must invest into the students and into the programming. We also have partnerships with the University of Regina to continue with the degree programs, the master’s programs. There have been talks about having potentially a bachelor studies in social work. That is some of the exploration that we are conducting with the college, the three campuses, along with potential partners from southern jurisdictions. We are exploring those areas. Mahsi.
I’m glad the Minister brought up 24 grads in the last five years. If anyone’s math is as good as mine, you’ll realize that’s less than five a year, on average, that graduate from the program. Statistics speak for themselves. As I understand it, far more don’t graduate than enter the program. Maybe the Minister can enlighten this House on the statistics. As I’m aware of it, we can have 30 people who enter the program in one intake year, but only five come out of the program. To me, our statistics aren’t showing good results.
Would the Minister enlighten this House on the intake of the program and our success rate?
Five will be better than zero. That’s success in my view, in my eyes. Again, this is an area we need to re-evaluate. The college is going through their overall program delivery and program review. They have conducted, this past summer, I believe, a five-year strategic plan. Part of that will be social work, the diploma programs, and the degree programs, potentially. So I will be addressing this with the college to see where they stand and see where they’re going with it.
One would be better than none. So, frankly, five is better than none, absolutely. I agree with the Minister on that. When we look at the landslide and the fact that way more people enter than ever graduate, it’s almost a disappointment. That’s why I bring my last question to the House.
The Minister says we need to re-valuate. Fantastic news. I want to know what that looks like and will he address the lack of the Bachelor of Social Work Program here in the Northwest Territories. As I began my Member’s statement today, now is our opportunity to develop a Social Work Program just like we did for the teachers, just like we did for the nurses and we can work to ensure Northerners are properly trained for our own people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, I will be delivering the same messages to the college president and also the Board of Governors. Again, they are going through their strategic planning, so I am sure they will consider this as part of their discussion. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. We’ve discussed this before, but as some of my colleagues from the small communities have asked questions today with regard to academic programs, Grade 12 programs in the small communities, I wanted to ask the Minister what 30-level courses are being offered in the small communities. I know in the Deh Cho, there are six small communities. In the Inuvik region, there are six small communities outside of Inuvik.
What 30-level courses, academic courses, are currently being offered in these small communities in the regions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
