Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on the subject of reducing the total number of instructional hours for students in the NWT schools. At the high school level, Alberta requires 1,000 instructional hours per year while the NWT in the future will require 945 hours. What discussions has the Minister and/or his staff had with Alberta Education about delivering the Alberta high school curriculum in fewer hours than prescribed in that jurisdiction, including details of where and when these discussions took place, who attended and a description of outcomes, and:
Has Alberta Education confirmed that even with the reduced hours, NWT students will receive a diploma that is accepted on par with Alberta’s for university admission, and if this confirmation has not yet been received, when will it be received;
Has there been confirmation that the GNWT will maintain the standard of 125 hours of instructional time for a five credit course as required by the Alberta curriculum, and if not, what will be the consequences of reducing hours on the earning of credits;
Who makes the decision about what to remove from the curriculum to meet the reduced instructional hours and on what basis is that decision made; and
Will a single standard will be applied across the Northwest Territories for reducing course content in high school to meet reduced instruction hours?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
