Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. We’ve discussed this before, but as some of my colleagues from the small communities have asked questions today with regard to academic programs, Grade 12 programs in the small communities, I wanted to ask the Minister what 30-level courses are being offered in the small communities. I know in the Deh Cho, there are six small communities. In the Inuvik region, there are six small communities outside of Inuvik.
What 30-level courses, academic courses, are currently being offered in these small communities in the regions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Every school is different, especially in the small, isolated communities where we’re lacking some of the academic programming, whether it be chemistry, biology or pure math and others. I’m glad the Member is raising that. The Beaufort-Delta, again, has been very successful. Our prime focus today is how can we invest that into other regions into other communities as a model. Even though we may not be delivering these core, academic courses in small, isolated communities, that is the overall plan through education renewal and through his e-learning that’s been very successful. We will be capturing that. Mahsi.
The Minister is leading right into where I was moving with my questions in terms of e-learning. I was going to ask him what is the cost of adding another academic teacher into one of these small communities, just one out of the six. What is the cost of a highly qualified educator that can teach one of these advanced learning Math 30, Chemistry 30 courses in our small communities? What would the cost be to the department? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I don’t have the detailed breakdown of the cost. I would guess one professional teacher would be upward of $200,000 all inclusive, and travelling and so forth. This is a worthwhile initiative in our communities. Similar to the South Slave, the literacy coach has been very successful to date and now the e-learning is happening and we’re very closely monitoring it. We’re working closely with the Beaufort-Delta Board of Education and the superintendent and sharing all the information. Now, my department is evaluating the whole educational system, so we can partake in that, as well, in the small communities. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
With the e-learning program, I’m a strong supporter of the program itself. The Social Programs committee sat before the e-learning process in the classroom and we did one of our correspondence on the Education Act on it, so we saw it work firsthand. Speaking with the individuals who run the program, we had educators from McPherson teaching people in Inuvik and in Tuk, and we actually had educators in Tuk teaching people in Inuvik and McPherson. So it’s a great program. We just heard from our Member from the Deh Cho that there are six small communities who could benefit from that program. We have four other communities in the Inuvik region that can benefit from that program.
Enough evaluating. Will this Minister commit to providing sufficient dollars to run that program in other communities in the Inuvik region so that we have higher graduation rates and higher education levels within our education system? Thank you.
Mahsi. When I said evaluating the whole situation, obviously we have to do our homework. The Beaufort-Delta provided us valuable information that we can move forward on. As a department, we’re working very closely with other DEAs and DECs in the regions. We may not cover all isolated communities, but we want to capture as much as we can, at least one per region as a start. I want to move forward on this through the business planning process and the action plan that’s going to be delivered in this House. It will be captured. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to get further commitment since this ERI is a 10-year action plan, can we see an action plan for the e-learning specifically over the 10 years where it will develop from not only providing educational services in Tuktoyaktuk and Fort McPherson, but down the Mackenzie Valley to more of our 33 communities that we provide services for? Thank you.
Mahsi. I was witness to the e-learning as well. I was participating in the class setting and sharing with students from Tuktoyaktuk and McPherson. Even part of Inuvik, I was in class. I have seen a difference and I’ve told my department that we need to invest in these key areas in small communities such as Nahendeh, the six small schools, and also the Member’s riding, the four communities, and other communities, as well, that are very isolated and may not be delivering core courses that are required, so we can have academic students moving on to post-secondary. That’s my goal and objective as the Minister responsible for Education. Mahsi.
