Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on the theme of education and Education Week, and I’d like to address my questions to the Minister of Education. He’s had lots of questions today about inclusive schooling and I also have some with regard to inclusive schooling and students.
I know the Minister recognizes, and I think all Members recognize, that we have some special needs students in our classrooms who require more attention and more support than others. Some of them require, in some cases, two special needs aides as opposed to just one or, in some cases, none. I’d like to ask the Minister, first of all, whether or not the current funding formula for special needs for schools recognizes that we have students with greater needs than others.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Currently, we contribute approximately $26 million towards inclusive schooling and $666,000 to a Student Success Initiative. It may not capture every challenge that there is in the school system. That’s the very reason why we are going to re-evaluate our inclusive schooling funding. We’ve been told, when visiting communities, that they should be based on students’ needs, special students and so forth, special needs. Those are the factors that will be taken into consideration. I will be addressing it with the standing committee.
Thanks to the Minister for his response, though I would have to infer from that response that, no, our current formula does not recognize that we have some students who have much higher needs than others and, therefore, the board requires much more funding. I’m pleased to hear the Minister state that there’s going to be a review. I think part of the educational review initiative or renewal initiative, I guess it’s called, is going to include looking at the Inclusive Schooling Policy and, I think, also the funding.
I’d like to know from the Minister, when that review is being done, will it include what I think is an objective review. That would be an external review as opposed to an internal review of the funding formula and the students within our system that require special needs support.
As I stated before, we need to reach out to the front-line workers as well. We are doing research and we are reaching out to experts as well. We want to have those best practices from elsewhere, as well, within Canada, and even in the States and internationally, as Mr. Bromley alluded to earlier. Those are the outside experts that are informing us and providing input. We will continue to address that and reach out to various sectors out there, outside our educational system.
Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate there is an awful lot of research going on and that the Minister indicates that they’re reaching out. It’s one thing to do research and to look at policy. One thing I’m asking for is an external evaluation of our current situation in all our schools within the NWT system. We need to know what students currently exist with what special needs and how much support each is requiring. I would like to know from the Minister if the renewal initiative includes an evaluation of the current special needs requirements in our system.
There are various areas that are evaluating various programs, an external review and so forth. We will take those into consideration as well.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
I’m not sure I really understood the Minister’s answer. Reaching out. I guess I appreciate that. When the Minister said external, I wonder if he could expand on what he meant by “external” in his last answer.
When I talk about external, there are other sources and experts that we need to depend on. When the Member is talking about external evaluation, those are some of the key factors that we need to take into consideration as well.
I stated before that we’re doing a lot of research in this area. We want to have the best product for the Northwest Territories that meets our educational system. That’s what we’re doing. It is a comprehensive and complex issue.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
