Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to follow up on the CBC special report this morning about the test results that show reading and math levels are still low in the NWT communities. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education some questions on the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative that we have going. I know that it started last year. So if he could tell me just a bit about the program and what initiatives are slated for this coming year, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Member for asking that question. I think it’s important to highlight that initiative that we’ve undertaken, the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. We were given indication last year sometime that enrolment was down and there were challenges with identifying students, where they’re at with their grades and so forth. So, Mr. Speaker, that area has been identified and we have a committee that’s in place that had several meetings already and they’ve made recommendations to our department.
On providing additional funding to the school boards themselves to deal with the enrolment issues, we’ve conducted that; a laptop for the grade 12 students. So those are the areas that we’ve improved so far. These are just bits of it and there will be more packages that will be coming out this year and I’m looking forward to it and providing recommendations on what we can move forward on. We will certainly be dealing with the student enrolment and attendance and also their grade levels as well. Mahsi.
Some of the reporting from this morning spoke about low attendance in smaller communities. I have a riding with many small communities, six in fact, and it didn’t say in the report, but I’ve got some factual information that aboriginal students are missing up to 41 days per year. I’m glad that the Minister has the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative.
What processes are currently in place to address this and what are some of the initiatives the department will be undertaking? Thank you.
Mahsi. The process itself is working closely with the school boards, the school board council and the district level as well, because we provide funding to the organization to provide the operation and maintenance of the school and to deal with the students. Enrolment issues are becoming an issue, but at the same time we have provided funding just in the last several months, now we’re seeing some results, but it’s going to take some time, but we are progressing on the enrolment issue.
So, Mr. Speaker, that’s great news. Even though it’s just a short period since September, we are seeing positive results and with that there are other initiatives that will be underway. There is a lot of discussion happening at that table, at that level, and there are representatives in all jurisdictions. The five regions are involved and we have representatives from the Member’s riding as well and it’s valuable to have their input into making a difference for the schools, making a difference in the students’ lives, because every one of us would like to have our students succeed in school and in life. Mahsi.
As I indicated, the aboriginal students in our smaller communities are missing 41 days of school per year with the equivalence up to about two years of schooling by the time they reach grade 9. I know that the Education department and our school boards consider this very seriously and I think they coupled some of the monitoring stats, like the Alberta Achievement Test, which shows that our use of English is being impacted because they’re missing a lot of that. So what kind of projects are being undertaken this fiscal year and planned for the next year, in terms of addressing this concern?
The overall plan will be in these coming months. What I’ve highlighted is we’re currently working closely with the school boards themselves, the literacy councils in the communities. Also just dealing with the enrolment issue. The Member is right; that is one of the top priorities within our Education department. If a student misses one day a week, it adds up to almost a year by the time they reach grade 10. A year of schooling is a lot. So those are the topics of discussion that we’re having with the experts around the table, the committee members. They’re the ones that are the experts at the community level and we’d like to get their advice and recommendations on a going forward basis. So when the package is available I will be sitting down with the standing committee to provide or highlight the key findings. We will certainly move forward from there.
Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
As a Regular Member, I certainly would like to see some of the measurable results. I know there’s only been one semester this year, but certainly if the Minister can commit to continuing to keep us informed of the progress. If the Minister has any information with regard to my particular riding and with the Dehcho Divisional Board and some of the progress or initiatives they have planned, if he could share that with me.
Yes, I definitely will commit to the Member to provide the information. As we move forward, we’re seeing some progress already that I will certainly share with the Members and we’re starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve dealt with the enrolment issue and now we’re seeing progress. So we’ll certainly share more as they become available.
The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
