Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In following up on my Member’s statement on absenteeism in the school, I have questions for the Minister of Education. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me if the department keeps stats on absenteeism and then uses those stats and if there is a correlation between achievement and/or the lack thereof in absenteeism? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We work through, and also are in consultation with, the school district education authority and also the council. We collect that data that are important for our educational system. We need to work closely with the school boards. They provide information on the absenteeism that the Member is referring to. The stats overall for the last few years, we do have them on file. Based on that, where we need to focus in certain areas. There have been some great achievements over the years and also there have been some lack of achievement over time. Those are the pros and cons we need to look at.
Mr. Speaker, yes, we do have that information and work closely with the education council in that respect. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me if there has been a reduction in absenteeism in the schools in small communities from year to year? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t have the detailed information before me now. I can get that information for the Member. I understand that there has been some improvement in absenteeism, because the school board has developed initiatives to deal with absenteeism because it is a big issue in the small, isolated communities. We are currently discussing that with the various school boards across the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, was absenteeism contemplated when the department developed the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the absenteeism is a cross-function of the priorities that have been established through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, whether it be the student support, the early childhood development, the literacy, the home support. So it does fall within those four categories. Every region that we visited, absenteeism was an issue and is a challenge. We are putting a strategic plan in action that is coming from the general public telling us, the educators, the parents, how we can deal with those issues and those matters at hand. They are giving us solutions from that. We are moving forward with this early this year. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me roughly if he has some general objectives in the plan? Can he tell me what the plan is to address the absenteeism issue? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the solutions are still coming at us from the regional forums that we have initiated. We visited four regions already, including Yellowknife, and also two more upcoming, Beaufort-Delta and also South Slave where Mr. Beaulieu will be part of that process, as well, along with other MLAs. It is at the preliminary stages right now, but in due time, in May session we are hoping to table the document and that information will be available to the general public. There are a lot of solutions in that package that will come out of that. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
