Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start off with questions today in follow-up to my Member’s statement about the great work that the Dechinta University is doing. I know our government does partner with them in terms of getting research brought up to the university and also in terms of some of their programming.
In my Member’s statement I talked about the 100 percent completion and not having enough funding for all the applicants. What concerns me is the number of applicants that don’t get into the university. What options do they have and are they able to get into Aurora College or another program? Even the enrolment rate at Aurora College has been declining over the years with more interests going into Dechinta University.
One way that we can offset this and support such a strong program that not only focuses on achievement but focuses on the traditional knowledge and culture, as well, is to increase some of this funding and actually look at ways that we can create core funding for this university and the work that they do.
Would the Minister be willing to commit and willing to look at the work that this university has done and commit to higher core funding moving forward given the success of this program? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. With Dechinta Bush University, it has been successful to date, since 2009. I was just there last fall and I wanted to meet with the staff, meet with the students, and it was a very well-experienced visit. I’ve always been supportive of the Dechinta University Program and I will continue to do so.
When I met with the staff at the Dechinta Campus, they highlighted some of the challenges we are faced with. I expected the proposal that’s coming down, so this is an opportune time to discuss some of these aspects. We will be entertaining a discussion on this. Obviously, Aurora College will be a partner as well as U of A. Those are some of the discussions we are currently having. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’m glad to hear discussions are in the works and moving forward. I haven’t seen government work so hard in terms of education and developing this Education Renewal and Innovation, working with Aurora College and making changes in our education system. We’ve done a lot of work in the last three years. Rather than reinventing the wheel, I’m looking at ways we can move forward.
We have already got a very unique university looking at unique ways to educate our people. One of my colleagues mentioned Canada not having a university. When we met with the Norway ambassadors for NWT Days, they mentioned they have the most northern university in the circumpolar region. They are doing a lot of great things as well.
Would the Minister not only work with the organizations here but look at how Norway has worked and created a university and help promote Dechinta at the same time and get those talks underway as well? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Most definitely. I believe Dechinta is a foundation we can build on as well as working with other partners. There are other countries that have established universities, even in a small population. So we are currently exploring those areas and doing a thorough research because we want to compile the information, sit down with Dechinta, the college and see where we can fit it in. U of A is part of the process as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, one of the highlights that Dechinta University does is they have relationships with the U of A, U of Vic, UBC and McGill and have brought millions of dollars of research to the North. I know the Minister is aware of that as they’ve also worked in partnership with Dechinta. Within the Education Act, would the department look at committing, possibly by the end of this term, to making an amendment to the Education Act to recognize, along with leading universities in Canada, the Dechinta Bush University Centre for Research?
Would he look at amending that act so we can recognize the work that Dechinta is doing and all the research they are doing and keeping that here in the North? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There are a lot of things on the go right now, a lot of discussions happening. There are also Skills for Success within my department that Dechinta is engaged in as well. We want to engage them. We need to find those individuals with the talent. Not only that, but if we need to change within our Education Act, obviously that will take some time. Those changes have to reflect our engagement with the general public as well. We are currently in discussions with the Dechinta and also the president of Aurora College and the U of A. There is a proposal that’s been discussed and we are moving forward on that. I will be updating the standing committee in due process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, 90 percent of the alumni go into the NWT labour force. I made a comment yesterday about the NWT Labour Force Framework.
Will the Minister work with Dechinta University and work with our alumni to get them into the labour force within the Northwest Territories as well as create jobs in our small communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Not only the Dechinta alumni but others as well. We have a great deal of graduates coming out of our college in the Northwest Territories. The Skills for Success will highlight those individuals and what kind of credential and qualifications industries or GNWT or the private sector needs. We want to train those individuals as well. Yes, those are the tools that we need to deliver to those individuals. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
