Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have heard countless discussions with my constituents regarding the lack of student boarding facilities and other resources for high school students in our small communities; resources such as expansion of grades, high school services for small and remote communities in Nunakput.
Mr. Speaker, the DEAs, the teachers and parents are working hard to reduce the dropout rates. We are working to keep kids motivated to stay in school, showing our kids the value of education. But we can’t do this alone, Mr. Speaker. There are many reasons why students in Nunakput drop out of school, but the biggest concern is that they drop out because we don’t support them. Expanding grades in the communities will allow these students to stay in their communities longer. Flying them into Inuvik and having them stay in boarding facilities is obviously not working for everyone.
If we are asking our kids to stay in school, we need to help set up and meet them halfway. We need to provide them with the resources, moral support, a good school environment, a safe and reliable place to live, and provide them many of these services. And that, Mr. Speaker, is a shame that we are not doing this. I am concerned that with the approach of the end of this government’s term, that other issues will take priority while leaving these students behind another year.
Mr. Speaker, that is unacceptable. In the last session there were eight students in Sachs Harbour alone, for various reasons, who have left high school, moved back to Sachs; reasons such as nowhere to live and not enough resources, moral support, and, according to my recent notes, it has not changed. Things have not improved. I ask this government why.
Mr. Speaker, our kids are to be competitive in an increasingly global market. This government must get serious about providing equal standards of schooling all across the Territory, not just in larger centres, resources allocated for expanding grades and services to our students. As I expressed in previous Members’ statements, the recent closure of homes for students of many regional centres across the Northwest Territories emphasizes problems. Many of us who lived in the North all our lives, and some for a length of time, all heard the challenges, problems and statistics related to students from small, isolated communities and all hearing situations that make me wonder if these are some of the causes.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
