Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like many of my colleagues today speaking on the recently tabled report, Education Renewal and Innovation Framework: Directions for Change, it is abundantly clear that our education system is in need of a shakeup. Of course, with any initiative report of this magnitude, we are hoping that this truly serves the department needs for the next 10 years and that the report does not collect dust on a shelf.
Although I don’t want to overshadow some of our successes, it may appear our failure rates as leaders, educators and society pales in comparison to our students’ low test scores and literacy rates. Change starts with the right framework and is measured by the right investment. The recent Auditor General of Canada report reminds us of that. The cliché “you can’t measure what you can’t count” may be surprisingly more appropriate for a Wildlife Act debate but, unfortunately, equally holds true in education.
In my first couple of days in office almost two years ago, I stumbled over a statistic that was alarming, and it remains an issue echoed in this ERI Framework. I would like to draw your attention to page 11 of this framework document, “by Grade 4 the average NWT student has already missed half a year of school, or two full years by Grade 10.”
What this statistic is saying is that the most we could aspire for a large number of our NWT students is that they have no higher than a potential Grade 10 upon graduation. One can maybe now comprehend why our Grade 12 Alberta test scores are so low. You can’t be academically at Grade 12 levels if you miss two years of school.
To the question of truancy, which is clearly one of the most serious barriers to our education system and I’m glad it was mentioned in this framework; however, this is just one page dedicated to this issue and it clearly does not give the statistic justice.
Let me be blatantly clear: School attendance is not the problem; it’s the end result of other issues. We need to understand why a large majority of our students stay away from school before we can affect positive change. Regrettably, this framework fails to realize these opportunities or even provide meaningful solutions.
In order for the Education department to break the socio-economic divide between small community and urban students, we need to address this barrier immediately and get them to attend school daily. Clearly, this framework report points out a serious red herring in our education system and yet offers little in the way of potential initiatives to address this.
I will have questions later today for the Minister of Education.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
