Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week, during the public meeting on junior kindergarten funding, ECE advised us that junior kindergarten would be funded according to a pupilteacher ratio of 12:1, but, in the same discussion, the ECE also advised that the funding formula was an allocation tool, not a tool to determine whether or not funding that ECE delivers is adequate to meet schools' and students' needs. So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain how this impacts schools and school boards who have identified where funding is inadequate to meet the needs of the students and the schools? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we continue to work with all of our education authorities on the rollout of junior kindergarten for the 201718 school year. It is the responsibility of the education authorities to decide how they are going to best staff their junior kindergarten classrooms with the funding that we provide. The money that we are providing this year, that we committed to.
I am confident that the funding provided to these education authorities will be adequate for these authorities to offer quality early childhood programming for fouryearolds, as I mentioned, that is optional for parents.
More specifically, Mr. Speaker, for the Member's riding, where we have implemented junior kindergarten for the past three years in a lot of our communities, we have spoken with the superintendent and had discussions with her, and we have heard from the superintendent that junior kindergarten is working; it has shown success, great outcomes. As well, she has mentioned that the JK in the Member's riding of Nahendeh is adequately funded. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for that answer, but he has to also realize that I speak for the territories. I sit as the chair of social development, and I am hearing these concerns across the territories. I have to agree with the Minister. It is working well in my region, and I am not saying that. I am saying, across the territories, there are concerns, and this is why we are asking these questions.
Mr. Speaker, ECE has indicated that it will take $5.1 million to implement junior kindergarten in all of the remaining NWT classrooms, not including some onetime spending to make classrooms physically ready and other investments. Can the Minister explain how many junior kindergarten students the ECE is expecting to be enrolled in 201718, and how does that compare to past enrolments? When we are looking at including all of the schools, how is it going to be related to the enrolment?
As the Ministry of Education, Culture and Employment, we want to provide the best services for our teachers, our families, and our students, and we represent all communities across the Northwest Territories. Junior kindergarten has been implemented in 20 of the communities to date. It is working well.
We are seeing some good results, and we are going to continue that. With the 13 communities that are remaining, we want to offer them the same opportunities that we are providing to all 20 communities. Any concerns, questions, we are continuing to consult with our education authorities moving forward.
Mr. Speaker, in the 201718 school year, we are looking at estimates of about 533 junior kindergarten students that are going to be enrolled in schools right across the Northwest Territories. Since we began piloting the project, on average we have had about 94 students in the Northwest Territories, in all the schools where we are currently providing it.
I thank the Minister for his answer. When we look at the $5.1 million plus onetime spent to prepare classrooms, communication, advertise, and all of the other expenses to implement junior kindergarten in 201718 plus spending on junior kindergarten to date, what is the total amount the government has invested in junior kindergarten, Mr. Speaker?
Since we have started the pilot program in the previous government, we have averaged about $1.4 million to fund the continued operations of junior kindergarten throughout the communities that have been offering it. Our onetime costs that include advertising, review, evaluation, the upgrades of infrastructure, classroom equipment, as well as the engagement that we have had with school boards and the communities, that is an extra $1.14 million that we have had for junior kindergarten since it started.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that answer. I think we are looking at the bigger centres, and that is why we are seeing a larger increase. With the implementation of junior kindergarten from the start, my understanding is the department required the divisional education councils to provide $2 million of the startup cost. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if this $2 million is on top of the $1.4 million? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The $2 million that the Member is referring to was the original cost that we looked at when we implemented junior kindergarten about three years ago. That money was in the last government. The $5.1 million that we are committing in this government to fully fund junior kindergarten is new money, as well as some of the onetime startup costs. Right now, we are averaging about a million dollars to continue the implementation of junior kindergarten that we have in the 20 communities where we currently provide junior kindergarten.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
