Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Northerners aspire to further their education, there becomes different trails that students take, especially in regard to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. We all want, in the North here, to ensure that we have enough doctors, lawyers, management professionals, teachers, just to name a few, so our students can aspire to those positions.
In small communities there has been a trend in terms of our schools not doing well, especially our students compared to larger centres. Four out of 10 of our Aboriginal students compared to the non-Aboriginal students don’t succeed.
Recently, Education, Culture and Employment has been working on the Education Renewal. So my question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is: Will your department’s Education Renewal Initiative eliminate the achievement gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The whole education renewal innovation, the whole purpose is to deal with that, the education achievement gap with the NWT students. We’re responsible for all students in the Northwest Territories. So there are Aboriginal students and non-Aboriginal students, but we’re responsible for all of them. So this education renewal will capture that. Those are the discussions that we’ve been having. Since the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, the Early Childhood Development Framework and now Education Renewal Innovation. So this is a particular area where we’re focusing on small communities, why are they not succeeding in school. It is one of the pillars that we’re going to be looking at formula funding, we’re going to be looking at how the whole structure hasn’t been succeeding in their schools, the small communities. So this is an area that will be covered and offset through education renewal. Mahsi.
I’d like to thank the Minister for his response. They’re still at the discussion stage, which is reassuring that there’s time for input. However, going back to our students, again, there are always barriers in terms of some of the obstacles that our students have to go through. It’s not very common that you have students that are making the choice to basically separate themselves from their social friends and then make that choice to go back to school. We need to ensure that this government has the support mechanisms in place. Aboriginal youth are more likely to delay the transition to post-secondary studies. That means they are more likely to have children, yet a student getting financial assistance isn’t eligible for daycare. Why is that?
Mahsi. Student Financial Assistance supports the students that need financial assistance going back to university or college. There are subsidy programs through ECE, Education, Culture and Employment that do offset the cost of child care programming because we have to support those students. We want them to succeed and come back to our communities to obviously develop professional backgrounds, so to become a professional.
It may not be covered through SFA, but there are other subsidies within ECE that will offset the cost of daycare. Mahsi.
Thank you. The Minister indicated that part of the efforts to address the need for daycare subsidies is that it’s something that quite possibly could be expanded.
Why doesn’t this government provide a financial aid package that matches the real costs of education? Mahsi.
Mahsi. The SFA program that we deliver in the Northwest Territories, as I’ve stated so many times, this is one of the best benefit programs for student financial assistance across Canada and internationally. So, this will continue to push that forward. Those are some of the areas that may not offset the overall costs of the student achieving their tickets or their diploma, certifications or degrees. There are other subsidies, the scholarships are out there and other benefits that are out there. Some, obviously, work part time as well. There are various venues that individuals can access. So SFA, again, is one of the best programs that we deliver to students and it has been a success. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has indicated that the Education Renewal Initiative is underway and primarily to try to address the achievement gap between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students. That’s the main purpose of the Education Renewal Initiative.
Could the Minister, by this spring’s session, commit to giving an update to this House and indicate to us how and what kind of performance measures he will undertake to ensure that his department addresses that gap? Mahsi.
Mahsi. That is part of our discussion we’re having now. As I’ve stated in the House, an action plan will be coming by this spring, late spring and it will be delivered to the Standing Committee for their input as well. So that is the process that we’re going through and yes, I will be informing the standing committee. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
