Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
So the GNWT's multi-year funding agreement with Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning is set to expire in March 2025. So while most of Dechinta's funding has come from the federal level as well as private sources, GNWT funding is critical to show other donors and funders that the institution is critical to this territory, and a multi-year funding commitment is necessary to ensure Dechinta can actually secure its faculty staffing because professors would not agree to work on a month's notice year to year. So is the Minister working with Dechinta to set up a new multi-year funding agreement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, we are working to achieve a new multi-year funding agreement before the end of this current fiscal year. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment has had a great working relationship with Dechinta over the last decade, includes currently the two-year contribution agreement which the Member is talking about which concludes at the end of this fiscal year. Thank you.
Thank you, that's great news from the Minister.
Dechinta is also well placed to lead community-based research on both social and environmental themes but because it doesn't have official status as a private college, it's currently excluded from being eligible for research grants. So how is ECE supporting Dechinta's efforts to become a private college and be able to access those research grants? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to start out with a huge shout out to Kelsey Wrightson, who is the executive director of Dechinta and is very active, and we have great meetings, and I love hearing about her vision. So the Post-secondary Education Act came into force in 2022, and this provides the foundation to build the new system. So through the act, a quality assurance system for the accreditation of certificate, diploma, and degree programs and institutions was created, and this includes the opportunity for designation as a private college. So staff with education, culture and employment meet with Dechinta on a regular basis and recurring basis to ensure they can pursue the appropriate recognition under that piece of legislation, and this work is currently underway. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So can the Minister clarify whether the establishment of Dechinta as a private college would require new legislation; and if so, how long would that take or what would be the timeline for that Act being introduced in this House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that, yes, operating as a college requires that the institution be established in legislation. And as far as timelines, it really depends on how that work progresses and so I would love to report back on that progress to the Member. But currently, there is a quality assurance process that must be undertaken, and ECE is working closely with Dechinta through this process. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Sahtu.
