Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the ECE budget tabled recently, it’s hard not to notice that the balance between forced growth and new initiatives is disproportionately balanced within the department’s budget plans. A question many of us have asked is, how is it possible to initiate such a monumental shift in program design with no new funding such as the Education Renewal and Innovation Action Plan? Moreover, with high school graduation right around the corner, many are still concerned with our territorial student outcomes.
My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I wish to ask the Minister about his budget for the upcoming year, which is relatively flat. Actually, when you factor in forced growth, he is dealing with fewer dollars than last year, yet we continue to hear how much change is forthcoming with the ERI Action Plan.
Can the Minister inform the House how is his department funding this new initiative?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When the Finance Minister presented the mains and the business plan for 2015-16, he made it clear the financial realities of this government and as we move forward it’s going to be a very tough position to be in. The three-year Education Renewal and Innovation Action Plan was created to use internal and existing funding as much as we possibly can. We know that’s coming with other departments, as well, not only ECE.
In addition to the $150 million that we contribute to education boards across the Northwest Territories, we have identified $6.2 million over a three-year period. In 2014-15, $2.4 million; 2015-16, $2 million; and also 2016-17, $1.8 million. Those are the monies that we identified that will be well spent and invested into our education system.
I guess the devil will be in the details when we finally see this in action. We are being made aware that the Alberta Achievement Test, the only real assessment tool to gauge how well or poorly our students do in language arts and math skills, is being phased out.
Can the Minister tell us what tools will then be used to monitor a baseline for assessing student outcomes across the NWT?
We are closely monitoring the Alberta AATs. There have been some changes that are happening and we are working very closely with them. My department is currently looking at replacement of the assessment and including Alberta’s new tools for student learning assessment. That’s a new tool that they have developed which was piloted in several schools in the NWT this fall as well. We’re working very closely with Alberta. It is too soon to know if the new Alberta assessment is a good fit for the NWT, but those are areas that we will continue to push forward with Alberta and see what’s best for the Northwest Territories to develop our own assessment tool.
There is a feeling that the phasing out of the Alberta Achievement Test was a direct response to the continued low scores year after year in some of our smaller communities and that any new standardized test will only camouflage the real issues facing these struggling students.
How can the Minister guarantee that any new tools in standardized testing will be equally representative for all northern students?
The phasing out of the Alberta Achievement Test is an opportunity for our government to find other methods that we can work with that have a northern perspective. Tools that assist in student achievement are an appropriate way that takes into account our students’ realities and also their northern context. My department staff, ECE, is working to determine what is the best tool for the Northwest Territories along with working with Alberta and the standardized tests that are most applicable and suitable for our northern context for our small communities as well. Those are just some of the discussions that we are currently having.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With respect to the pathways to high school graduation rates, what does the Minister have, or in place, to improve these student outcomes?
We are being challenged in the Northwest Territories. We know that NWT students are graduating from high school significantly below the Canadian average. We’re fully aware of that, and our system is not meeting the standards. The whole Education Renewal and Innovation will definitely capture that. We’re fully aware of that and we’re developing tools to capture that as well. Along the way, it’s a three-year mandate, a three-year action plan, and we will be keeping the standing committee up to speed while we’re making changes along the way.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Hawkins.
