Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand we’re doing all we can to advance the educational goals in the NWT. Current core values of the education system work to ensure that we have educated and well-trained professionals in the Northwest Territories. Recently, advances have been made in terms of trying to be inclusive in respecting First Nations’ culture and values and principles in the educational system.
My question to the Minister is: What is the department doing to promote the philosophy of strong like two people in addressing educational needs of the Northwest Territories residents? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. There are two parts to this within our educational system. First and foremost is the students-on-the-land program. I’ve given directive to the school boards to conduct on-the-land programs specifically. We provide money for that and it’s been very successful to date. So elders take students on the land, it’s all in their language and on the land, and in a classroom as well.
The other side of the coin is that educators themselves, through the access program, the TEP program, we’ve incorporated the cultural base, spirituality, as well, through the Behchoko Access TEP program and we’ve conducted one in the Beaufort-Delta, now on the Hay River Reserve and others are coming into the regions as well. So we are incorporating those important elements to this programming, whether it be for the students or whether it be for the teachers. Everybody should be fully aware of that. Mahsi.
Thank you. What plans does the department have for increasing the number of Aboriginal northern teachers, especially in the Deh Cho and South Slave regions? Mahsi.
Mahsi. Part of our goal is to produce as many language speakers becoming qualified teachers, whether it be in the Northwest Territories or from outside the Northwest Territories, because we have a lot of our people for the North attend southern post-secondary. We want them to come back. A lot of them do speak their language as well.
So those are some of the priorities that we have in Education, Culture and Employment, to produce those qualified people that can come back and teach the children in our school system the language. As you know, the various languages we’re losing, Gwich’in is a prime example. So we’re doing what we can to produce those teachers. That’s why we started this access program, the TIPP program into our communities, into our regions and we’re going to spread it out to all regions as best as we can. Mahsi.
Thank you, I’d like to thank the Minister for that. What plans does the department have for engaging parents, especially Aboriginal parents, in the education of our youth? Mahsi.
Mahsi. That’s an excellent question. That’s the same theme, a common theme that we’ve heard through the elders’ gathering, part of the Early Childhood Development Framework and through the stakeholders, as well, also through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. How can we involve the parents, the grandparents? So now we’re developing plans towards that. Even through the Early Childhood Development Framework I work closely with Mr. Beaulieu, Health and Social Services, how can we engage those parents. So that’s a key factor in our discussions and the parents will be involved. In what capacity? Working probably with the teachers, working with the elders, working with the students and helping out, maybe tutoring, or any roles and responsibilities that are available. So we’re doing what we can as a department and we are working closely with the school boards to make that more of a priority for them as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I like the Minister’s response on some of the initiatives. Of course, the major initiatives are very progressive. My final question is: When will the department recognize that the NWT needs a university? Mahsi.
Mahsi. I kind of knew that was coming. This is an area that we’ve explored and we have extended our NUP lease agreement. Currently, we are discussing, between my department, PWS and also the Executive, how we can look at options at this level. We want to see a stand-alone campus. That’s part of our long-term goal, that is our objective and we need to work towards that. So the discussion is happening and we’re asking for our outside options, as well, how the private sector can play a key role. So those are discussions that we’re currently having. We can provide some of the updates to the Members as to where we’re at with our discussions. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
