Thank you Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Most of the funding allocations are done by enrolment. When enrolments decrease, then funding decreases. However, in that funding that you see is also monies for things like the Indigenizing education. Indigenized education is the biggest one within that.
The allocations for the teaching positions are based on the enrolment, so that is why you see a difference. I do want to stress, though, that the individual education bodies do have the authority. This is what we fund them for. They can actually use their funding or surplus. The majority of them have huge surpluses that they can use at their will, as long as they have a plan for it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you. What percentage of a surplus are the authorities allowed to hold on to from year to year? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Currently, they are allowed to hold on to 7 percent, and as of 2017, the surplus throughout the 10 education bodies was $13 million. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. A whooping $1.3 million each. That's amazing. Has the 7 percent amount changed over the years, or has it always been a 7 percent surplus that they can hold on to? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, it is only a new policy in 2018-2019, and it was because there were concerns. I mean, there are concerns when children are not developmentally ready, when they are not meeting the standards, when they are not showing in the middle years developmental index. There are concerns of children dropping out. There are concerns of children not doing well in school. I have concerns when we are not reaching the needs of children, and yet, we have $13 million in surplus. I think it was about time that we actually looked at saying, "Give us plans for your surpluses," and so I don't think that that is an unfair recommendation. In fact, I support it. I think that we should have plans for surpluses when children are at risk. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you. Each year the schools have their budgets approved, based on estimates of how many students they will get, or based on, I guess, previous years, and at that time, the surplus is also approved. It is my understanding that, after that approval happens, the department came back and then reduced the allotted surplus. Is that the way that things worked out? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is incorrect. We just told them that this is the policy going forward, and then they had to provide surplus plans for that. The schools are funded by enrolment on the previous year. However, there are exceptional cases. If you had 20 kids in your school last year, we fund you on 20 kids for the coming year, because we can't tell. At the end of September, though, there is a tally done, and then, if there are additional students, substantially additional, then we actually provide additional funding to accommodate that need.
It can work to the benefit of schools if their numbers are lower in the current year, and then, if their numbers are higher, we have additional funding that they can access. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you. I talked about this earlier this sitting in a Member's statement, about how this funding formula might not work so well anymore for places like Hay River, and the Minister said she would look into this. I am wondering: are there plans to look at improving the funding formula so that it works for all jurisdictions? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am very cautious of what I am taking on. Recognizing that we have six months left, this is one that is a priority for me, so yes. I have already asked the department to go cross-jurisdictional and look at how their funding formulas are done.
I do have to give credit to the MLA for Nahendeh, who first brought that to my attention, and it was a concern for me as well. I am looking across jurisdictions to see if there is a better way to fund. We are looking at lower enrolments in the Northwest Territories, so we can't keep basing it on enrolments if our numbers are going down. There will come a time when schools don't have the correct funding to be able to provide core services.
We are looking at doing a cross-jurisdictional review, and then, once that is done, there may possibly be a new funding formula. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you. It is good to hear that there is something happening, but just because something is happening in a different jurisdiction doesn't mean it is the right thing. The right thing is what is going to give kids the best education, so that is what we should focus on, not what PEI is doing, not what the Yukon is doing. Let's develop something based on what is going to give kids the best education.
Finally, I have questions about the Early Childhood Program contributions. As I understand it, the program has been undergoing some changes, particularly the HCI; the ECIP, Early Childhood Intervention Program, I believe. This has been in the news. There is an association in Hay River called Growing Together. It has been around for over two decades, and it has provided great services, similar to the services that the Minister provided in her previous position before getting into government, and unfortunately, the revamping of these programs has seen funding to very useful, very successful programs like Growing Together being cut. I have brought this up with the Minister, and I was hoping that there would be some sort of change to save these programs. You shouldn't be trying to fix one problem and creating another problem. What is being done to rectify this situation? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The comment that was made that there is no sense in looking at other jurisdictions, and we need to do what is best for us, is absolutely right. However, there is no sense reinventing the wheel. It makes sense. Best practices would say to look at all of the different funding models that are out there and then decide which one works best for the territories, even if we have to adjust it from there, instead of just trying to pick something out of the air and saying how that will work. So I beg to differ; I think that it is important to do research before we make actions.
On the HPI funding, moving into supporting child inclusion and participation, as the Member pointed out, I actually ran a program that actually got this funding. I think that the more that we can do to support parents in learning parenting skills, the better. I think that there is a huge gap in that. It was looking at changing and looking at specializing only in looking at marginalized students or youth, children who are at risk. However, I have asked the department to do a review of that again to make sure, instead of throwing out the baby with the bath. Our goal is to make sure that we are reaching vulnerable youth and that we provide parenting support and cooking support or whatever the support that we think is needed, that can be done within what we have currently. That is one pot of funding that I am actually asking them to reconsider and to just change the terms. I am okay with changing the name. I am not attached to a name, but I am attached to losing great programs that we have currently offered. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Cochrane. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you. We will end on a positive note. Nothing further. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. Next, we have Mr. Nakimayak.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. A lot of my colleagues have asked a lot of questions that I have been thinking about, but I am looking at this page, and I am looking at the third line down, NWTTA professional improvement. Does that include improvement for staff and teachers who come into the territory? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Haener.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The NWTTA professional improvement item is a fund where we provide the money to the Teachers' Association to administer for their members and the educational efforts of their members. It is administered by the Teachers' Association under the collective agreement that we have with them. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Nakimayak.
Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I am looking at the health, wellness and student support. I am just wondering: I know that a lot of schools, especially in my region, have applied for funds through Jordan's Principle. I am just wondering if this is the right section to talk about it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is not in the mains, because it is in the individual education bodies' budgets. It is usually external funding. A lot of the schools actually get external funding, such as Jordan's Principle. However, within this area, we do provide support to them in things such as filling out the applications and reviewing the applications. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Nakimayak.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would just like to express some, I wouldn't say concern, but some of the issues that we have been facing in the remote communities where funding like this could help a lot of students. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, it would have been great, but now it is good that the federal government is recognizing it. It is administered through the schools. I would recommend that the schools across the territory maybe take a stronger role in this. Once the support is done and the teachers are home for the summer, I am just wondering: what is next for students? What is coming from the education boards and the teachers once school is out, basically, in the summer and these students have some time on their own? I am wondering what the next steps are for that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is a three-year program, I believe. I am not sure what will happen with the new election that comes up. I agree that it is important programming. I think that we need to try to lobby to make sure that it goes further. I also think that we need to work better towards this.
I have heard comments that some schools are taking it and some aren't, and I think it is something that we should bring to the education leaders' table. I think we would be a lot better off if we coordinated within the regions and actually did it through councils and then assimilated to the schools versus the individual schools applying on their own. One school may apply for $500,000, and the next school may apply for $10,000, and you are only getting approved for what you ask for. We need to be more coordinated in this funding, and we also need to lobby for any funding that we can get to address the healing that is necessary for Indigenous people. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Nakimayak.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that response. I was kind of going in that direction. When we recruit teachers for remote communities in the territories, sometimes you don't see what you get until they walk off the plane, basically. Sometimes it is amazing. There are some schools that have amazing strengths in writing proposals and some that really don't.
As we move toward the fall and the new school year, seeing that there are two years left of this program, I think that we need to really utilize the strengths that we have in some of those educators early. That might mean adding more money to the professional improvement of the system so that we can actually start prepared rather than react as the school year progresses and have it defined and running well by the end of the school year. I think we need to look ahead and plan so that we can hit those milestones as we move ahead on track, and we will hit the ground running. Just more of a comment on that, Mr. Chair. I don't know if the Minister wants to comment on it.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I agree. My commitment is that I will put it on the agenda for the education leaders' table, which has all of the education bodies' chairpeople and their superintendents. I think that we need to be more strategic in this. That is our biggest problem. Leaving it to individual schools is not the best way to deal with this funding. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Next, I have Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 44, I see that there is only a part-time position for early childhood and school services. Can the Minister explain why it is only a part-time position for eight communities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This position is part-time, but we do have the regional early childhood development coordinators who actually provide the support necessary to the region, as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. What is the difference between the Sahtu and the Beaufort-Delta? They all have a full-time position, and I am assuming that they get the support from their staff, as well. Why is it a difference of only a half-time position for the Deh Cho? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The difference would be the number of licensed childcare providers and the demand for the services. Like I said, we do have 11 communities. Once those 11 communities, if we can get to a point where they have licensed childcare centres, then we would need to review it to make sure that our staffing is equitable. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you to the Minister for coming into that world because that is where I was coming. I know those four communities. You need actual support to get these. Four of my communities that I represent don't have licensed daycares. With a half-time position, how can that individual support the ones that actually have daycares and the ones that are trying to get them in there? It is kind of: well, we want to get 11 more licensed daycares going, but we are not going to give you the supports to it. How can we actually achieve that if we only get a half-time position? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
