Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. We must find out why this student had already moved to Inuvik before the college advised him he was not eligible for the Access Program of his choice. This is one of our future leaders.
Will the department work with the college to review its administration and advising procedures? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As you know, there are upwards of 1,600 students in the Northwest Territories who are attending college and universities. This particular case file, I’m not too familiar with. We’re already seeking, and I’ll also ask some questions of the college, to provide detailed information on this particular case and how we can move forward on it. Mahsi.
The access programs are designed to help students transition into college programs, but these won’t work if students can’t access and use these programs.
What mechanisms are in place to help students transition into and through these access programs?
We honour a certain process that needs to happen once the student applies for a particular program, such as the Access Program and through SFA program and other scholarships that may be available to them, then those are the processes that we’ve always encouraged our students to apply. If there are challenges or issues in the Member’s riding, the college would need to sit down with the student to find out what’s really happening and what’s missing, what piece of information is missing. Those are the discussions that we are currently having, as we speak, with the college to find out a bit more detailed information, because we want every student to succeed and this is what our goal is with this particular student. Mahsi.
What department programs currently exist to help students, especially in our small communities, to transition into post-secondary education and skills training?
We do have a variety of programs. We just expanded and enriched our SFA programming, and on the particular Access Program, there is a variety of funding through the college, through our department, and there’s also federal funding as well. So, again, depending on the program the individual is taking, we need to gather more information and have the college sit down with the student before the student quits or walks out of the college. We need to resolve this issue. We are, again, dealing with upwards of 1,600 students, so we have to be mindful of when they applied. If they are late in applying, there are processes in place. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
How does the department reach out to prospective students, especially in our small communities, Mr. Speaker?
There are processes in place where we have a Board of Governors representing the regions. We have one in the Beaufort-Delta that is accessible by students. They know by names as well. That information, if it’s not available to the particular student, the college will be fully aware of it and get as much information to this particular student and other students as well.
We are a public government. The college falls under us and this information should be publicly accessible to them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the department should contact this student and apologize for the situation he’s been put through. We have to do a better job of encouraging our students to stay in school and we have to find ways to accommodate them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That’s why we’re trying to find out what truly happened here. There’s always two sides of the story. We need to gather the facts so this student can move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Menicoche.
