Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m informed that the percentage of NWT aboriginal high school graduates has increased significantly since 2000. In 2008 approximately 50 percent of graduates were aboriginal; in 2000 only 30 percent of the graduates were aboriginal. In the same period the total number of graduates in smaller communities nearly doubled. Fifty-five percent of those 18 years and older in the NWT are now graduated from high school.
That all sounds like good news to me, but I’m still discouraged. Many of the Sahtu high school graduates don’t have a real high school graduation. They don’t have the right courses and credits to move into post-secondary programs. I don’t think this is a problem that is unique to the Sahtu students or schools, I think this is an issue for Northerners throughout the Northwest Territories. But I will talk about my Sahtu people and their perspectives.
It seems that the higher the grade that you get to, the more likely that you are really far behind in that grade. Evidently students in Yellowknife perform better than students in the small communities and are least successful in their tests.
I know the Minister wants to blame much of this on students and their parents, but let’s be fair here. There’s a lack of success everywhere. Take some responsibility: the department, the school boards, the DEAs, the teachers and the principals. The Minister receives funding to improve education services in small communities.
The Minister says he’s doing new things to support education in small communities. What are these activities that he’s supporting? How many students are taking the 30-level courses and succeeding? The Minister received new funding to launch the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative to reduce the gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal students’ performances. What is being done in the Sahtu communities? What results should I expect to see? I hope it is more than empty stomachs make empty brains, the newspaper advertisement. I hope it is more than new government employees in Yellowknife. What are the initiatives in the Sahtu communities? What difference are they making?
Young Northerners need good education so the young people can be what they want to be. Education is an investment. We will see the results from that investment when our young people return to the Sahtu as teachers, doctors, nurses, pilots and carpenters, even politicians.
I believe the GNWT’s department of education can work with our boards and DEAs, and our teachers and principals, with our parents and students, to ensure that they have quality education in the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
