Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, on languages. Mr. Speaker, the action plan on languages commits to supporting NWT schools and early childhood programs to offer Indigenous language instruction and programs. Mr. Speaker, my question is: what is this going to look like in practical terms, and to what extent does it include language-immersion curricula? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am actually glad to speak about our languages because, as the MLA stated, our languages are in danger and they need to be preserved. I also want to recognize that, within the Northwest Territories, we still have a fair amount of speakers, and we need to preserve that. We need to promote that and revitalize.
We did do the action plan in May of 2018, but, in honesty, we have been working on this before last year. We have been working on this for many years. Our curriculum is being piloted right now in 40 of our schools across the territories. We have 40 out of 49. When I have gone into the schools, I have heard nothing but good news. They are bringing in elders. They have got language teachers in there. We are developing resources for them. Once this pilot is finished, then we will be compiling all of the results. We will be making a firm curriculum, and that curriculum will be implemented throughout the Northwest Territories.
I should also mention, though, that in our schools is one thing, but we also provide monies to Aboriginal governments to do their own language revitalization. It's important. We need to put our efforts into it.
It is good to see that elders are being recognized. Earlier I was at the Dene Nation Assembly and they recognized all of the interpreters and language-holders, so kudos to that, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the plan also commits to supporting professional development for language instructors and offering language-instructor training. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us more about these, and any other actions that the department is willing to do to build capacity in current language speakers and to ensure our traditional languages are kept alive into future generations?
Yes, it is important that we reach out and train as many people in developing language revitalization teaching. It is actually an embarrassment, being a Metis woman and not being able to speak a word of my language, except perhaps "mahsi," which is common. I am not the only one that is Indigenous and can't speak their language, so we need to put a lot of effort.
Last year alone, approximately 75 of the Indigenous language teachers and support staff came together for the very first training in our new languages curriculum. That included training on learning how to use the new curriculum and how to use the resources and the assessment tools. It is important that we evaluate this as well. We also trained our regional Indigenous language education coordinators to support the teachers, as well as offering video conferencing training and in-class training throughout the year. As well, we have trained the principals, and we are starting to work closely with our program support teachers so that they have the skills to support the development of Indigenous languages.
Finally, as well, we are partnering with the University of Alberta and the University of Victoria to offer training and capacity-building opportunities to current language speakers. We need as many as possible. This is a serious effort, and we need to pay a lot of attention to it.
It is good to hear that the department is allowing Indigenous governments to work at their pace. Mr. Speaker, I know that the department is currently hard at work with stakeholders, working on improving curricula for the Northwest Territories education system. Mr. Speaker, I would like the Minister to seriously consider incorporating a heightened focus on language immersion in this work. Mr. Speaker, can I get the Minister's opinion on this proposal?
I think it is no secret that I think, like I have said many times, that this is really important, and it is critical. Language is culture, and culture, in my opinion, is health. It's about wellness and making people feel good about themselves, and that is critical in making good choices. That's from my social work background. For the full immersion programs, ideally, all activities and learning would be done in their Indigenous language. That is the ideal. Currently, now, we have two communities that are doing immersion programs, one in Fort Providence and one in Behchoko. Those communities will provide some leadership and hopefully some support as other immersion programs begin.
Unfortunately, the reality is that not all schools in our communities have the capacity to offer a full immersion program, but that is not okay. We need to work towards fixing that. We need to work with the Indigenous language speakers to help them so that they can become teachers in our communities. We need to support Northern language speakers to become teachers so that they can pass on the knowledge.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the response, and I see the reality of the issue of the capacity across the territory, seeing the residential school impacts have had a great impact, negative impacts, on all Indigenous peoples.
Mr. Speaker, my final question to the Minister is: in the long run, as we build our five-year or 10-year or 25-year plan, I think I would like to see more of a commitment since language is not in this Assembly but into the next Assembly, working towards bringing Indigenous language into grade five, grade six, and grade seven. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I totally agree. I would like to see it expanded. I am hoping within the next Legislative Assembly that we will get more programs, more schools that are doing the full immersion. However, I recognize also the reality is that this will take years. We need to train people to be able to provide that service. At least, I am hoping that within the next Assembly there will be couple of more schools jump on board with the full immersion, and my goal is that every single, at least every couple, of years more will help in, until we are doing it across the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to visitors in the gallery. We have with us Michael McLeod, former Member, former Minister of the Legislative Assembly, and also a current Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories. He just came back from working hard with Dene Nation just now. Welcome.
Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
