Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my statement earlier today, social passing is a huge issue in my riding. Many parents would like to see their children having more homework, more projects that they have to do and trying harder. Right now it seems that their children don’t have to try and yet they’re put up one grade higher every year even though they’re not at that level.
So, I’d like to ask the Minister, why did the department move towards social passing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of the process is that we have heard over and over from the parents, the grandparents and the educators that we need to have those individuals along with their peers. At the same time, we are currently working with the parents. We have to deal with attendance and various areas of improvements within our educational system. We are doing what we can as a department. We need to reach out to the parents. If students aren’t attending schools, they fall behind. When they fall behind, they fall behind in the curriculum, the areas of study and way behind in their homework as well.
This is an area where we want to improve through our Educational Renewal and Innovation. We are doing what we can to improve in those areas, along with working with the district education councils and district education authorities because we need their support as well. Mahsi.
Just thinking back, you know, one of the reasons I believe that social passing was brought into play here was because of our graduation rates. In the past our graduation rates were much lower. This is no reason to have social passing in our education.
When will the department review and revise the Education Act to deal with social passing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We are doing a three-year action plan on education renewal. Part of that process will capture attendance and the challenge we are faced with. The peer passing has been brought to our attention on numerous occasions and how we can deal with the matter. There are mixed feelings about that particular subject. It depends on who you talk to. We need to have all the stakeholders have a discussion on the best approach to deal with this particular matter. This is part of the discussion we are currently having as part of the action plan on ERI. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment if he’s talked with his department… There was a young student I talked with a few weeks ago. I wanted to ask the student what the best thing about going to school is. Do you know what the student said to me, Mr. Speaker? He said, “Leaving.” I just went, “What?”
What is the Minister’s department doing to keep the students in the school rather than to leave right away?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
I’m not sure what leaving right away would mean in the school system, whether that is during class or when they leave school. We want each and every child, 8,000 students across the Northwest Territories to graduate with the credentials that they can move on to further education with. There are some challenges we are faced with today. That’s the whole reason we are developing Education Renewal and Innovation, so we can capture those individual students who may be struggling, whether it is with issues at home or personal issues they have encountered. Part of the ERI is to capture the wellness of our students and deal with those matters, so we have to work with the district education councils or authorities. They have the ultimate decision when it comes to students in their jurisdictions, whether it is the community or the region. We will continue to deliver that message to them as well. Mahsi
I do apologize to the Minister. I was talking about hoping the student would say something that would get them to stay in school or something exciting, but he was looking forward to leaving the school every day. So I want to know what type of programs are in place in the schools, such as sporting events, that make students go to school and stay in school and have their school be a fun place to go to.
Has the Minister looked at any type of program such as sports and the days of the TEST program where there were sporting events that kept students in school and measured their success by also having them perform in sports?
Obviously, there are all kinds of extracurricular activities that are happening within our school systems throughout the Northwest Territories. There are 49 schools. Some may not offer full-fledged sports programs, but we continue to work with Municipal and Community Affairs dealing with sports and also the youth and how we can best deliver programs. We have been dealing with some of the community leadership. They take on the task, my department, of working with DECs and also MACA to deliver some of the fundamental sports programs that youth can be engaged in, especially youth who don’t have anything happening in their community. So, there are various programs within a community that can be highlighted through my department. I can share some of the highlights with the Members when it comes to sports and other activities, programs that DECs and DEAs offer. Thank you.
I have looked at some of the activities going on in the small communities, extracurricular activities that could support students in their education, also their health and wellness. Some of the small communities are doing very well at the territorial level in sports such as basketball, volleyball and soccer.
Is this part of their school programming that can be supported with their educational goals in the small communities?
Yes, these are some of the additional activities, extracurricular activities that the coaches get involved in, and the teachers, volunteers at the community level. The after-school physical activity program is also part of the GNWT Healthy Choices initiative. Obviously, there is some funding attached to it to provide schools with after-school physical activities, upwards of $765,000. That is $650,000 for after-school physical activity programming and $150,000 for the healthy snacks component of the program. We feel this is very important for students to be actively engaged in sports and extracurricular activities. We will continue to support those activities as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has the department ever come to the point where they do a pilot project such as they’ve done in Inuvik with the TEST program, with students in sports or on-the-land activities within education so these students can develop into world-class athletes? Has there ever been a program since they did theirs in Inuvik with the TEST program? Has there been any thought to that?
I will have to find out exactly when that last occurred. I will follow up with the Member on the detailed information. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to ask a question. My question will be to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment just to help build a little further on our theme day for education, Mr. Speaker. First I should say, once again, thank you to the Bureau of Stats for their great assistance in helping me with this question because their details, I couldn’t live without.
In 2012-13 in grades 10 to 12 we had 2,582 students enrolled. However, current details tell us that only 437 students graduated. That’s approximately 50 percent if we just work the math through and divide the three grades into that first calculation. What it’s basically saying is we have a 50 percent graduation rate in the Northwest Territories.
We all know how important education is. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment as to what his department is doing to create incentives for children to go to school so that they ensure that they graduate, so that they do have a future that is so promising for them, we have a future that they can engage in.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Again, I have to reflect on the whole Education Renewal and Innovation. It is a very broad sector. This will obviously capture the graduation of our students across the Northwest Territories. Some of the areas of which we are aiming and also our goals and objectives are obviously to improve the overall academic achievement of all students, 8,000 students, 49 schools across the Northwest Territories. We also want to increase the number. The Member touched on the 50 percent. Obviously, we want to reach 80 percent or plus, but that will take some time.
Also, improving literacy. Mr. Yakeleya talked about literacy and numeracy skills of all students. Also, helping them gain employment or even further post-secondary, improving achievement and employment through student wellness and student engagement. These are just some of the key components that we currently will be delivering with the Education Renewal and Innovation and I’m looking forward to making those changes.
The Minister just said he would hope for 80 percent. Well, actually, I hope we have 100 percent graduation rates. Unlike the Minister had just said, I hope that every child has the future and that they work through graduation. You can’t get a job with the military or the RCMP these days that people used to go through with grades 10, 11 and 12. You need a minimum of Grade 12.
The specific question to the Minister of Education is: What incentives are put in through the education program to encourage our youth to fulfil their obligation by getting through the education system and all the way to the end by graduating?
The Member is referring to 100 percent. Obviously, I agree with that, but it takes a whole community. It just takes the Department of Education to graduate these individuals. We have to gain support and a push from the parents, a push from the community members, the leaders. We’ve had some challenges along the way. Yes, we’re at a 50 percent margin right now, but obviously our goal is to increase that through the Education Renewal and Innovation. I have just captured some of the key points that we will be delivering, working with our stakeholders. We can’t forget that the district education council and authority are our key partners, and also the parents and grandparents as well.
The Minister says it takes a community, but it also takes leadership at the Minister’s office. What is the Minister doing to engage the students to find out what types of incentives they need to be partners in their own future? Not just the parents, not just the district education authorities and not just everybody in the ivory tower at the buildings downtown.
What are the students being talked to and engaged about? What it would take for them to want to graduate? Is the Minister doing that outreach and what is the outreach determining?
There are so many initiatives that my department is working on. When we were at NWT Days in Ottawa we also met with university students from the Northwest Territories. Obviously we want them to come back to our Northwest Territories and work for us. It was a very productive meeting and we’re going to continue to do that. Every time we travel to other provincial jurisdictions, we want to meet with the students. We care for the students. We want them to come back. We support them. There is the Education Renewal and Innovation that’s happening that will capture three years of action plan. Also, the Skills for Success is another prime initiative that our students should be fully aware of, and we are promoting that, as well, into our school system. The Aboriginal Student Achievement was the start of our engagement with the youth and students. That was a few years back. Now we continue to push that forward. The whole Education Renewal and Innovation will certainly capture that.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not hearing anything from that last answer that specifically points to what they’re doing. The Minister said there are so many initiatives. Name clearly one initiative that is engaged with the students to find out what’s important to them to encourage them to proceed towards graduation.
This is such an important thing that our students get a graduation certificate, because their future counts on it. We can only go backwards so far and hope and dream and pray and plead with them that they graduate, but we must get them involved in this solution.
Name one clear thing that the department has done, the Minister has done to build engagement with the students so that we work towards 100 percent graduation.
The Education Renewal and Innovation has engaged students in a wide variety of ways. We want to hear their perspectives, their experience, what they’re faced with, whether it be in high school, whether it be in post-secondary, because from their feedback we want to make productive choices and make some changes with our Education Act and programming. We’ll continue to push that forward. This is not the only time. There will be plenty of opportunities to engage our students across the Northwest Territories, the 8,000 students. We want them to be successful. We are creating all these different initiatives along the way, and as part of the initiatives the ERI will be creating incentives for these students to return to the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to opening address. Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 5 on the orders of the day.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, colleagues. Once again, I’d like to recognize the Deline leadership, the negotiating team on these past couple days, a historical day for them. Welcome, and good to see you guys again.
Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Programs has reviewed Bill 36, Health and Social Services Professions Act, and wishes to report that Bill 36 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to table the Globe and Mail article, Aboriginal literacy pilot project dramatically improves test scores in Ontario.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table a couple of news reports here. The first one is from Northern Journal, October 27, 2014, and it’s entitled “Cultural resurgence at core of the Dechinta studies – all women cohort attends fall semester out on the land.”
The second one is from the Globe and Mail, entitled “Learning from the land in the North,” and it’s referencing the work that Dechinta University has done as well.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, February 26, 2015, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, February 26, 2015, it shall be adjourned until Monday, March 2, 2015;
And further, that any time prior to March 2, 2015, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that Bill 46, Deline Final Self-Government Agreement Act, be read for the second time.
This bill approves, gives effect to and declares valid the Deline agreement, which is a self-government agreement among the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Deline, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada.
This bill also gives effect to the Deline Tax Treatment Agreement, which is an agreement in relation to the tax treatment of the Deline Got’ine Government.
This bill provides for the legal recognition of the Deline Agreement, the Deline Tax Treatment Agreement and laws made by the Deline Got’ine Government.
Finally, this bill also provides for consequential amendments to the Waters Act and for the repeal of instruments pertaining to the establishment of the Charter Community of Deline.
I also request a recorded vote on this historic day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
