EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
Another initiative revolves around the gymnasiums in our schools, with earlier opening times to see if that can increase our student attendance.
In some schools, we have breakfast programs to increase the number of students coming to school.
We are also looking at the attendance records to increase attendance in the schools.
The DEAs are taking those initiatives in order to improve the attendance records.
The DEAs are provided funding based on the number of students that go to school.
That is how they get their funding. It depends on the total number of students attending.
We are looking at different options in order to increase school attendance.
Mr. Mikkungwak: I guess this would be my last question.
In the Priorities (2016-17) on page 88 of your business plan is “Ensure consistency and quality in curriculum across Nunavut that will enable student success, not only in Nunavut, but in Canadian jurisdictions.”
My question to that would be: how is the Department of Education working on that to ensure that secondary school students are graduating from their high school?
I would like to thank the member for that question. We are always looking at improving the school system in terms of attendance and so on.
Just recently, in May 2014, I entered into an agreement from kindergarten to grade 12.
In 2014-15, we’re looking at standardizing where, if they complete grade 12 here, for example, they can enter any other school anywhere in Canada.
We would like to see students completing grade 12 and enter into higher education. We are focusing on literacy and other programs so that we can notch up the education system with math and so on, which are being matched up nationally.
Mr. Savikataaq, go ahead with your one or more questions.
Most of the questions I had have been gobbled up by my counterparts, so I won’t be long.
There are just a few things I would like to get a little more detail on.
When Ms. Angnakak was asking about the letter of authority, the minister replied that a lot of the letters of authority are used for Inuktitut teachers or so teachers can speak Inuktitut.
In my mind, it implies that you don’t have to be a qualified teacher to teach Inuktitut.
Is that the message this is sending?
Minister Quassa
Thank you to the member for asking about this.
Many times in the communities, we have a hard time finding certified teachers that speak Inuktitut.
Using the letter of authority, it makes it easier to find Inuktitut-speaking Inuit, not just teachers, but Inuktitut-speaking teachers.
In the communities, it is sometimes hard to find Inuktitut-speaking teachers. We do run into this situation from time to time. The (interpretation ends) letter of authority (interpretation) is one avenue we use to meet our needs.
Mr. Savikataaq: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation) If I understand this correctly, if an Inuk teacher can speak Inuktitut, he or she can teach Inuktitut, but if they if want to teach in English, they need a teaching certificate and have the proper education.
Due to that, I am pushing the Nunavut Teacher Education Program and support this program and I want more people to take this program so that we can have a larger pool of teachers and not have to rely on this current situation. It is desirable to have certified Inuit teachers teaching Inuktitut.
I encourage our youth to take this program and become certified teachers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I thank the minister for making it clear that the only qualification you really need to teach Inuktitut is to speak Inuktitut, which is sad, but I guess that is the reality of the way it is.
To go on a different subject here, I know that the teacher-student ratio is used to decide the number of teachers a school will get the following year, if I’m correct in that. I’ll start there. That is for the following year.
Yes, that is the case. To decide the number of teachers, we use that formula to determine the number of teachers for the school season.
To answer his question, yes, it is like that.
However, I would like to add that we don’t just hire teachers if they can speak Inuktitut.
We want them to be certified or even have a Bachelor of Education and we are always pushing this agenda.
I wanted to add that, even though his question was not directly on this, but he did ask earlier.
Yes, we use that formula to know how many teachers we will need the following year and school attendance is used.
I would just like to ask the minister if there are any provisions set up for… . Let’s say a community was really successful in bringing back a whole bunch of students that are of student age to enter the school and people have moved in and the number of students has really risen, and the number of teachers in a school is always decided a year before.
Are there any provisions to hire more teachers if the DEA or the community got a whole lot more students to enroll in that year?
I think we have to look at the budgeting process.
Normally, as I said earlier, under the student-educator ratio system that we use, you’re right, we follow the SER by 13 here in Nunavut, where we’re fifth in Canada at a ratio of 13:1 students per each educator while the national average is 13.8.
I can say that for the budget year, we would have already decided how many teachers would be in that particular community or in that particular school following the SER ratio.
That is what would stick for that school year.
Again, as I said, the budget process always gets affected too if we’re going to change within that school year.
There are different factors for following the findings of the SER within that school, whatever community it may be in. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Savikataaq: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the minister for that response and clarification.
Mr. Mikkungwak asked about this, but I would like to ask about it in a little bit of a different angle.
On page 87 of the business plan, it says, “Continue implementation of Nunavut-wide bench mark assessments to assess student literacy in language and numeracy skills.”
Is that benchmark a Nunavut benchmark? I assume this means you are testing the students to a certain level. Are you testing the Nunavut students with Nunavut-based standards or Canada-wide standards?
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That was a good question my colleague asked.
The ratio is not totally followed simply in Nunavut.
My assistant has to say something sometimes.
With regard to the student assessment framework, there are different types of assessments. (interpretation ends) For example, I’ll just state in English that the assessment framework will address all forms of assessment, including formative during the unit and summative after the unit has concluded.
There is a different process for these systems.
(interpretation) So that my colleague can have a clear understanding, my deputy can explain in detail some parts of the question or make addition to the response, if that is okay with you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Opik.
Ms. Opik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) Our minister approved the new assessment framework for Nunavut schools in March 2014 of last year.
This included five strategies to begin in the 2014-15 school year.
We have been talking quite a bit about the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System for reading and this would be specifically for the English language and the balance literacy piece of that.
We have also adopted, for grades 7 through 9, the common assessments. Summative means a year-end assessment.
Just to give a bit of context, formative means ongoing assessment throughout the year, and then the summative assessment would be sort of like a year-end.
A departmental exam, for example, would be a form of summative assessment.
This would be for reading, math, and science.
The other thing is that we have started to look at the adoption and adaptation of an early years’ evaluation tool.
Often, we focus at the end for departmental exams, but we know that we need to start at the beginning to see where children are at.
For example, we are looking at this tool within kindergarten that would identify what are the strengths of the child and what are some of the weaknesses potentially so that we can better inform parents.
If there is a gap within language or reading or that type of thing, then we can better inform the parent.
In March of last year, we did purchase the Fountas & Pinnell system for all our schools, and then in September and October of last year, we had all our principals and a combination of 200 people who participated in four training events on the benchmark assessment system.
The training took place in Iqaluit in two separate sessions, Baker Lake, and Cambridge Bay.
We also had Nunavut Arctic College and the teachers association attend the training events.
There is quite a bit of information here that talks about this, but I think that we can say that we’re really excited about it. We have been talking quite a bit about the balanced literacy piece and the English piece of balanced literacy. You can buy it off the shelf.
That has all been developed and it’s already being utilized by many jurisdictions in Canada.
What we are most excited about is the development and creation of our guided reading benchmark assessments in Inuktitut.
That has been our major focus for book development.
If you look at kindergarten and grade 1, to be able to know exactly where a child is in their reading development, we have to develop 26 reading books, for example, and then you have to create two assessment books that determine where that child is at and at what reading level.
You have to have one book, that’s the assessment piece, and then a second book where the child has never seen that book to determine the full assessment and reading level.
That’s what we’re most excited with.
We hope to show the members the books that have been developed very soon.
We have been advised by Pearson Canada that the Inuktitut guided reading piece far exceeds the quality of the English piece because it is built right into the teacher resource book as they begin to provide that modeling to students and that assessment for students. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I thank Ms. Opik for the long explanation.
I understand about benchmark for Inuktitut speaking and all that, I mean the testing, because you can’t compare it with anything down south.
My simple question would have been: benchmark testing, if you test someone in grade 6 math in Nunavut, will it tell you whether it’s on par with grade 6 math in Ontario or Alberta?
That’s the simple question that I ask.
With your permission, I’ll have my deputy minister respond to that question.
Ms. Okpik (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (interpretation ends) The minister talked about adopting the K-9 English Language Arts from the Northwest Territories.
We know that the K-9 English is based on Alberta, so we know there’s that standard that has already been established.
When the benchmarks are being conducted and because we know that the benchmark system that we’re using with Fountas & Pinnell is used in multiple jurisdictions across Canada, we would know that if a child is reading at a grade 6 level, it is equal to any other grade 6 level across Canada. (interpretation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
On a different matter here, it’s almost in the same topic as full-day kindergarten.
This might seem out of the blue, but has any consideration been given to summer school for students that might be just missing a course or two to get onto the next grade?
I thank my colleague for that question. This is a very good idea to take into consideration.
However, we have to take notice of the workload of our teachers, including the financial repercussions of using the summer months, as all of our teachers take a summer break when the schools are closed.
These are some of the factors we need to take into consideration, but other issues would surface.
The question raises some interesting ideas we can think about.
On another front, many communities have summer projects.
With respect to the idea of opening the school is something to consider, but as of now, we haven’t considered it.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $169,532,000.
In your business plan, you talk about curriculum reflecting realities in the arctic and who we are as Nunavummiut.
Who exactly is doing that work and how do you approve that what they develop is an accurate picture?
If you look at the curriculum used, the Aulajaaqtut curriculum is designed specifically for Inuit, but we are always aware of the relevancy for our Nunavut students.
If I were to say it in English, (interpretation ends) Nunavut relevant, (interpretation) subjects that are relevant to the circumstances here and we are quite aware of what the needs are for Nunavut. The resources would be relevant to Nunavut. We are quite aware of that because we live in Nunavut.
If we look at our wildlife, our plant life, and all these things that are used within the schools and that can be taught in the school, if we look at all Nunavummiut, they require the knowledge from Nunavut, so we realize this too.
Who is developing this material and is this something that is done on a regional basis?
Nunavut is a large area and people have different ways of doing things.
Maybe the minister can elaborate on that.
I believe the resources are made from two communities, one in Arviat and one in Iqaluit.
Those are the two communities that come up with the curriculum as for teaching materials that are relevant to Nunavut. That’s what I can say.
Here in the business plan under page 91, my colleague had asked about it, but I want to add a little bit and perhaps flip it over. The way I see it is as an education authority, the first thing I see… . I believe my colleague mentioned this earlier that as the Department of Education, are you saying with your goals and objectives that education… .
When you take it in and if you look at it through the Qallunaat perspective… . I will ask it in English.
(interpretation ends) As the Department of Education in Nunavut, when you look at this… . My colleagues, I’m taking a whole different perspective here. As a department, are you championing the education curriculum in Nunavut on a positive note?
I can say yes, I believe in this and I believe in our process. Of course, yes, for sure.
That is how we look at it and our schools. It’s a way for them to move forward. If we didn’t believe in this, we would not move forward, of course.
I could see development happening in the schools and we want more development for a positive environment in the schools. Of course, our students are our priority and we want them to be able to use these resources. We want them to be able to understand what is being taught and that is our baseline.
That is how we are looking at it and we believe in that.
As Nunavummiut, with our goals and objectives, we have to be aware why we became a territory. We have to keep reminding ourselves and we sometimes can get sidetracked, so we have to also realize that we are in Nunavut and we can come up with our own solutions.
Also in your business plan on page 89, if you look at your documents, the Auditor General had mentioned the educational system using the bilingual approach with Inuktitut and English and that it has to improve drastically. The Auditor General noted that in his report.
With respect to the bilingual teachers listed on page 89 of your business plan, the budget is roughly a third of what it was in the previous year. What is your reasoning for this? Do you feel it is now sufficient to meet our bilingual teacher needs?
That is an excellent question, but perhaps I didn’t grasp his question due to my dialectal limitations, as I don’t think I quite got the terminology he used.
Did the member ask if the budget was decreased? What exactly did the member ask about, Mr. Chairman?
Chairman: Mr. Mikkungwak, clarification.
Last year, looking at documents and using documents, the report of the Auditor General had indicated that bilingual education has to enhance.
When you look at the business plan on page 89, Inuit Educational Leadership from 2014, $618,000, and then it substantially drops by the funds to $139,000.
Is there reasoning for the substantial decrease?
Perhaps to ensure the member comprehends the answer completely, I will provide what seems to be a partial response. Nonetheless, we can provide more clarity on the exact status.
Some of the funds were transferred to another area in the budget.
In order for the member to understand this issue, this is under (interpretation ends) education training (interpretation) and this has been transferred resulting in what appears to be a decrease. It was transferred to another line item and that is why you note the difference which looks like a reduction.
I hope I responded correctly, but we can add to that.
We’re on Education. Branch Summary. Curriculum and School Services.
Total Operations and Maintenance, to be Voted. $16,779,000.
G-9. Branch Summary.
Education. Early Childhood Education.
My first question is in regard to daycare grants and contributions.
I noticed that the budget, $2,150,000, seems to be consistent throughout.
I’m wondering: being that the need for daycare space in Nunavut is so high, is it to do with the budget or why is the budget the same and do you have a strategy in place to address this need?
I can start off by saying that every year, the budget we appropriate isn’t always expended, but within the new budget, we have identified $300,000 for this six-year period. It’s going to be identified to be used for the early childhood education facilities for the pre-kindergarten age group.
It’s for resources like reading materials. It is going to be allotted for 15 kids. It’s going to be used for materials and resources.
I could say a little more on that for your first question. Sometimes we don’t use up all of our funds.
In keeping with early childhood education, once again in your business plan, I’m referring to page 94. $1 million is a contribution that is provided to DEAs for the administration, resource development, and delivery of community-based early childhood education.
What are the challenges associated with this budget?
Thank you for that question. $1 million is directed toward the DEAs and also for the early childhood group.
We have also noticed in the communities that it’s not all used up.
Even though we provide the DEAs funding in the amount of $1 million, if you look at 2014-15, they should be utilized as directed with Inuit language materials or through education geared to early childhood.
The DEAs are the ones that are supposed to be moving these along.
Sometimes they are not always used up. We give them the funding and they are kind of like the go-between in the community. The DEAs are kind of like our middle people.
Sometimes the money is not all used up. (interpretation ends) That’s the challenging part of what we have seen so far (interpretation) and we want to try to do something more about this.
Can the minister provide us with an idea of how much of this funding is “surplused” every year?
Hon. Paul Quassa (interpretation): For example, if we look it annually for all the DEAs and also for the early childhood fund in total for fiscal year 2014-15, it was just a little over $511,281 and approximately half of it was not spent.
That’s a lot of money. We also have a need for after school programs.
I’m wondering if the minister has thought about a strategy there. How can we address the need for after school programs? In Iqaluit alone, I think we have over 100 children waiting on the waitlist.
What is the Department of Education going to do about that?
The funding here is totally different from what we had just alluded to.
The DEAs can apply for funding from that line item in regard to after school programs, but the budget that you just mentioned is totally different from this line item.
As a department, our objective is to provide support to the licensed daycares or early childhood programs. As I stated earlier, the Department of Education can work with the communities. If they want to have an after school program, we can provide support when they draft up their policies and when they want to fill out application forms.
I know that you can’t literally fill out that document.
Also, we can provide support with financial matters and the DEAs can apply for funding.
Just to a slightly different topic, over the last two years… .
Well, since we have been elected, I have raised the fact about children going to school hungry and I have often spoken of the need to provide funding for all schools so that they could have a proper breakfast program.
Can you tell us what the status of this request is?
Of course, yes, I’ll be able to provide an explanation.
For breakfast programs, early childhood education programs are not connected, but I am very pleased to say that up to $10,000 per school, there will be funding made available to all the schools. With the assistance of the Department of Health, we’re able to come up with that.
They could be used for various things, such as buying breakfast food items or small appliances, such as pans, or storage bins, or if they need to use a stove. It could be used for various things. It’s $10,000 per school that will be allocated to date.
Ms. Angnakak: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
That is wonderful news to hear.
I think that’s definitely a step in the right direction.
I’m wondering now: will this funding for breakfast programs be ongoing or is this a one-time thing?
To date, this is our first year and this is a one-time fund, but as the Department of Education, we’re looking at how we can keep this continually and we’re looking at options.
I just have a couple of quick questions under this line item.
I guess I’ll start off with, earlier you were talking about the $300,000 in new funding each year for six years for the development of resource and learning materials for early childhood education.
For kids who aren’t in a formal daycare setting or a licensed facility, how would this material get rolled out to stay-at-home children?
Yes, what my colleague said is true because not all children go to early childhood facilities or daycares.
As I keep stating, a child begins learning at birth. As we are aware, even though these children are not in the early childhood program, they are able to go to school.
With that, how can we prepare a child before they enter the schools?
I know that the children, even at home, can be taught. We are now reviewing the communities that have operating daycare centres and we’re looking at how we can provide support to the parents when their children don’t go to daycares. I know that their children will enter the school when they become of age.
Even though the children are not in daycare, they will be provided with the Unikkaarvigilaunnga (Tell Me a Story) books to provide them with reading materials.
They will be providing that to the parents with children who are not even in daycare centres so that they can provide that support at the home.
Last year at this time or around this time when we were going through the budget last year, I asked you some questions regarding the Young Parents Stay Learning and the amount of the subsidies.
You don’t have to go into each level of subsidy again; I still have those numbers, but I see an increase in the budget allocation by about $30,000, or a little over 20 percent from last year’s budget.
At the time, you said that you’re going to fully review the amounts and look at the costs.
I was wondering: is that the purpose of the increase or is there an uptake in the increase and the numbers are still the same, or how is that review going?
I’ll try to not go into that level of detail with the subsidies. (interpretation ends) I can say that the department has seen an increase in applications for Young Parents Stay Learning, which is very encouraging.
We have already approved about 75 applications this year.
This is already an increase over last year. We’re still receiving applications for the new semester in schools.
I could say that the increase is mainly due from… .