Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've had a lot of discussion about Aurora College in the past, and building a sound post-secondary education system in the Northwest Territories. The Minister recently mentioned that reduction targets were passed along to Aurora College. Who set those targets? Was it the Department of Education, Culture and Employment or was the department somehow involved in setting those reduction targets? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Right across government we're looking at how we can better spend our dollars more efficiently and, you know, evaluating the overall costs of programming is part of good planning and management. Some of the programs with very few graduates and a full complement of staff is not fiscally responsible. The department did work with Aurora College to see where we can better efficiently spend our dollars through the contribution agreements that we have with them and those targets were set by that.
Mr. Speaker, the government through the Department of Education, Culture and Employment provides contribution agreements to other post-secondary partners as well. Does the Minister or the department have the same relationship with those other organizations, like College nordique and Dechinta? Do they work with them on value for money on their contribution agreements or are those contributions agreements given to those organizations and they're allowed to compete in the free market, so to speak?
Yes, we do have those contribution agreements with other institutions, such as College nordique and Dechinta, and we do look at increased funding with those organizations as well moving forward.
Thank you. I'm sure those partners will be interested in receiving additional funding from the Minister moving forward. In this specific area of reduction, the Minister spoke about value for money. How many students were enrolled in the social work program, and what is the cost per student of that program so we can get a clear sense of the value for money?
Over the last three years we've had 12 graduates come out of that program. Currently, there are 17 students who are enrolled in year one and 17 students enrolled in year two. We're working with them and continue to support them through the rest of their studies. If you simply divide the cost of the program by the number of students, the cost is approximately about $13,000 per student. However, if you look at it from an academic outcome perspective, how many students are we graduating, that would be about $112,000 per graduate that we put through that program.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for those numbers. I think we all want to ensure we are getting value for money for our dollars and making the biggest impact. The students involved in this program, it's called a lifechanging program and it gives them real opportunities. So with an eye to that, does the Minister agree that this program, while not a full degree and perhaps not performing at full efficiency, will the Minister agree that this does give Northerners the opportunities to receive academic credentials to enter degree programs down south that may be lost if it wasn't available? What I mean by that is, yes, there are social work programs in universities and colleges across the country, but often they're hard to access from someone from a very small traditional community in the Northwest Territories. So does the Minister agree that we may be losing something, and is there a plan from the college to substitute this through some other stream? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Social Work Diploma program, like many other Aurora College programs, is recognized by southern institutions and post-secondary institutions as well through transfer agreements and through individual course equivalency processes. With the strategic plan that we're going to be looking at having developed this year, hopefully we will see other programming fit, reflective of the Skills 4 Success action plan that we have and strategy that we have, as well as the Labour Market Information Report that we tabled in the House last year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
