Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the government increase its allocation to fully fund the e-learning initiative currently provided and funded by the Beaufort-Delta District Education Council. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. A motion is on the floor. To the motion. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Before I get into this motion specifically, the department and all Members of this Assembly have noticed that the Regular Members have introduced three motions particularly to this department. It’s not that we’re questioning their authority over what they’re doing, we just want to support the great things that are happening in education right now, early childhood development, child daycares and, in this case, the e-learning program.
We see what’s happening in the communities. We see how things are changing within the communities and throughout the Northwest Territories. This one in particular I think, the Beaufort-Delta is using its resources, a lot of its resources, actually, to get this education. I think last year it was four communities in the Beaufort-Delta. We want to set a goal of reaching all seven of those communities, but I mentioned earlier that we have communities that don’t have that type of education or the academic courses. We have four in the Sahtu, about four or five in the North Slave, four in the Deh Cho where this program can really do some wonders and have an impact on the education and the health and livelihood of our youth in the Northwest Territories.
As I mentioned, we did see the success of this program firsthand and we did pass a bill, the Education Act, we did an amendment to it, getting input from Tuk educators and students. Obviously, I brought this forward because we want to support the great work that the Beaufort-Delta Education Council is doing and the innovative style they are using to get this program into the places that need it, especially the coastal communities, they’re the next communities on the list and we want to look up and down the valley. We’ve got the fibre optic link coming in and going to be worked on and completed and that gives us a great opportunity to hit those communities in the Deh Cho, to hit those communities in the Sahtu and right across the Northwest Territories.
I don’t know what else to say, but I think that it’s an opportunity that we give the students from the smallest community to the biggest city here in Yellowknife equal opportunity, decent and quality education, and support our educators, support our authorities that are making decisions at the regional levels and support the good work that the department does do, as well as support the work of standing committee and also of Members of this Legislative Assembly.
It is Education Week and it’s a great way to recognize the great work that’s going on out there. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to say that I do support this motion for a couple of reasons. One is that I have been able to personally see this initiative in action twice now and it is providing education at the high school level to communities that would not normally be able to get the range of courses that they are getting through the e-learning initiative.
Secondly, I think the fact that this is being fully funded by the Beau-Del District Education Council is patently unfair. This is an initiative on the part of this particular district education council and they are being funded on a per capita basis the way every other school board is being funded, and yet this is an initiative that is of huge benefit to the department because it’s affecting the schools within this particular district, but they are also wanting to expand into the Sahtu, so it’s not just for this particular education district.
The department has to realize that an initiative like this, the Beau-Del has spent a lot of money over the last three, four, five years to develop this particular program, and it really ought to be funded by the department. It shouldn’t be funded by the district education council.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I really support this e-learning initiative, and although we are asking for more funds here, I have been contacted by the Beaufort-Delta Education Council and they’re very excited for the coming year because they are getting an increase of $500,000. They’re really excited about that. I know the Sahtu is ready to come on board, and once that happens, I think that we could move forward on there and maybe increase it more next year, but at this time I can’t support this.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. To the motion. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much. When it comes to e-learning, I did visit the Sunchild e-learning program. A great initiative. I tried to get that same type of programming not only for youth but young adults in Fort Liard, but at that time there was a bandwidth issue, so we weren’t able to pursue it any further. I know there are still some issues in the smaller communities with bandwidth and that once those are addressed we can certainly move forward with the e-learning program on a small scale.
I’m certainly supportive of e-learning. I’ve seen the value of it. Like I said, I visited the Sunchild Reserve and how successful it is, but their model is quite extensive. They’ve got e-learning and they’ve got dedicated teachers to help the students and the young adults, even adults, for that matter, that participate. That’s the success of that e-learning program.
I’m not too sure what specifically Beaufort-Delta District Education Council’s model is based on, but I certainly wish them success and certainly Mr. Blake also mentioned that they are getting an increase of $500,000 as additional resources for that. Once again, we’re asking for more money, and I certainly can’t support that. I wish the motion was different. I wish it said let’s explore e-learning in all the regions and districts, and that’s where the focus should be. The Member spoke about that, about the value in other regions and districts as well. With that, as the motion currently reads, I cannot support it.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. To the motion, Mr. Yakeleya.
Just a quick note there, Mr. Chair. The motion, again, recommends that the government increase its allocations to fund the e-learning. I heard some pretty successful stories and especially for our small communities to move people into the required educational careers that they want to go into with full confidence that they’re getting the required courses. Of course, the funding is being looked at through the Beaufort-Delta District Education Council, and they’re looking beyond its regions, and I certainly agree with Mr. Menicoche on other regions taking full advantage of this type of initiative and that we start looking at avenues where our smaller communities can be under the same sort of level and on par with the larger regions who have some courses that we don’t have in our small communities. I do support the reallocation of this type of funding. It’s a very good initiative, and I certainly know that the Sahtu people, if this ever happens, it would be beneficial if Members spoke on it. So I’d like to add on my last comment to ask for a recorded vote.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. Minister Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I am fully in agreement with the Members that we should be investing in e-learning, and that is exactly what we had done last week since we have contributed $500,000 to the BDEC. This motion is asking for additional funds which will be addressed through the Education Renewal and Innovation, through that action plan. This will definitely be a topic of discussion, and at this point, the Cabinet cannot support this initiative since we are already moving forward on this.
Thank you, Minister Lafferty. To the motion.
