EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
We already know some of the reasons, as our colleague alluded to one of the reasons for certain segments of our student population’s quitting school to pursue harvesting, along with other reasons why students quit school.
This includes getting too far behind in their courses, which exacerbates their situation as they cannot catch up, and many tend to just leave school.
This is a very important matter to us all.
A new program was created to try to encourage dropouts to return to high school or to get a GED in English, which is called the mature graduation program.
As these people are going to school, they also are provided funding assistance through this program.
I’m only mentioning these two aspects of the program. However, as my colleague noted and expressed as his concern, it is indeed very important to remember that.
Since this government wants to assist all individuals who want to return to school and if they are committed to their education, we have to provide them with assistance.
This is something that can be shared through the Adult Education Branch of Nunavut Arctic College, as well as through our department’s programs.
If the comprehensive study proceeds, it will provide much needed data and would be quite beneficial to our work.
Mr. Curley (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That was the main reason for asking that question.
When we were in Ottawa, I understood it better when Paul Martin, who lobbied for funding for all of Canada, particularly additional funding for aboriginal people, helped to introduce programs, such as additional schooling or training for aboriginal people to enable them to join the workforce in the future, especially for people who are no longer in school.
He was speaking about the issue which was quite understandable and which seemed to reach the heart of the problem we face, although he referred only to illiteracy in his speech.
When people are illiterate, they are unable pursue a career. They become ashamed of it, and then they usually quit their schooling.
As an example, if we allocate funding to fix this problem, we can teach people to be able to read so that we’re not stuck with an individual dependent on the system their entire life because they cannot read and therefore cannot get employment.
If we provide a bit more funds, we are investing in the capacity of the individual to succeed without further assistance. We need to invest in our people because, without a plan, we’re just throwing these individuals to the wind, to put it succinctly in English, (interpretation ends) failure for life. (interpretation) That is not the way we ought to be dealing with this problem because 60 percent of our students are not passing and we have to be very concerned about this number.
Every year, it is costing us over $200 million and if we don’t deal with this, we will be hit with even more demands.
It seems that the funding we give to the Department of Education is only for students who are attending and passing schools.
If we, as a government, are going to leave that as the status quo, we should be held accountable for our lack of planning.
We have to ensure that we include in any education strategy the students who are dropping out and ensure our system teaches them the skills to succeed in life. We shouldn’t just state that as long as we can teach them to hunt, it is enough.
So I believe we have to focus on more employment training skills and that is a departmental responsibility.
In closing, please ensure that you keep in consideration this issue that we have a large portion of our population that require more assistance.
Yes, the member is totally truthful and I also believe in his comments.
That is why we need to deal with this matter continually, particularly today, with the large number of dropouts and students who have left school.
There was an announcement today from the federal government about a new fund that is to provide support for people to attend adult education to enable them to continue their education.
This fund will also provide some invaluable assistance down the road in our attempts to allow dropout students as well as mature students to get their GEDs and this will also include pre-employment training or other job preparation training.
Moreover, for example, currently with the establishment of the Education Act, this made-in-Nunavut legislation received Royal Assent and it has been law for two years.
We can expect that as the legislation and its details are implemented by the Department of Education that the numbers of graduates will increase. In the future, I have high hopes that this will be the case since this education law was made in Nunavut.
One issue I keep referring back to is the importance of cooperation between parents and schools.
At this time, within the schools, we now have employees who deal with student issues, particularly those who are having difficulty or who are falling behind. There is a temporary committee struck to deal with those particular students and to provide assistance.
With this type of support, students can be brought back into the fold prior to their having to leave school due to problems or schooling issues, especially if they are caught prior to their reaching that crossroad.
I will stop there, but I’m a firm believer in adult education courses and their ability to provide assistance.
Additionally, we have new programs that are being created in Nunavut that will provide more assistance, such as the Rankin Inlet Trades Training Centre under the auspices of Nunavut Arctic College.
Within the trade school, there are pre-employment programs available for mining projects, construction, electricians, plumbers, and various other trades related training.
It is obvious that this centre will assist us in providing more skilled workers, especially if we ensure that the people attending have the prerequisite literacy skills and grade levels that can be taught through the adult education stream.
Do you have any more questions, Mr. Curley? Thank you, Mr. Curley.
I wanted to ask questions in regard to K-12 in terms of staffing and staffing allocation for positions.
With the changes that are being made to the graduation standards and having different streams, I was just curious to find out… . I know we have school community counsellors, which provide counselling and support to students who require help, but specifically, how many of our schools actually have guidance counsellors in the community to provide guidance on which courses to take and which career path they’re interested in following?
I also thank the member for asking the question.
The students that require additional assistance are provided counselling by people who are available within the schools.
If I’m not mistaken, he asked about how many guidance counsellors we have on hire.
At this time, we have three and a half positions that are in our schools that provide counselling for students when and if they require assistance.
For example, if the student requires help in the school, they provide this assistance.
In the Baffin region, we have one position working at the Inuksuk High School here in Iqaluit and one other position working at the Pond Inlet high school, which is a half-time position.
In the Kivalliq region, we have one position in the Arviat high school, one position at the Rankin Inlet high school, and another half-time position in Repulse Bay.
In the Kitikmeot region, there is a position in the Cambridge Bay high school, which is also a half-time position.
These are the counsellors currently on hire in our department.
In terms of the three communities that I represent, if one of those schools wanted a guidance counsellor, would they contact the QSO and ask for a specific position or is it up to the principal to decide allocations of teachers and classrooms?
Each school is assessed as to the number of teachers required for that school based on the student population.
The student-teacher ratio also figures into the equation and they have to look at the number of teachers prior to qualifying for a counsellor.
Perhaps if I called them a social counsellor and if the school wanted to get a counsellor position, they have to know the number of teachers in the school.
Sometimes a school will prefer to get a counsellor and trade that off with a physical education teacher. I’m just using this as a theoretical situation.
Perhaps the school would prefer to get a music teacher. So they have to prioritize which teachers are the absolute minimum required to teach the courses. They can then look at the extra positions to determine what they will include, either a counsellor or another position that the school may prefer.
The overall number of teachers that has been predetermined in the assessment, however, cannot be changed within the school, but most of these issues are determined in collaboration with the local education authorities to look at which positions will be allocated within their school.
My Deputy Minister, Kathy Okpik, will elaborate the details on how this determination is made, so I would like to defer it to my deputy minister to speak to the details for the time being.
Please clarify the situation further, if you would. Deputy Minister Okpik.
I will just add some details to the minister’s response.
The DEA, along with the school principal, determines how the number of teaching positions will be allocated within the school’s operations, which they review annually.
This number may change based on the growth of the student body as this determines the total number of teaching positions that are allocated, along with what kind of teachers they will hire.
It is up to each school to either lower their student-teacher ratio or to try to teach the maximum number of students and courses or to have a physical education teacher or, as the member was asking, a guidance counsellor to assist the students and the teachers in meeting the students’ future educational needs.
They would have to notify the department about planned changes. The local DEA and schools make these decisions.
The majority of communities prefer to have more teachers than counsellors to meet their needs.
However, the communities have the authority to deal with these matters.
The Department of Education also has requirements for career and education development planning when students are in grade 9 so as to determine the types of courses they will need to meet their plans prior to their reaching grade 10. As an example, they may wish to concentrate on mathematical courses or sciences, as well as what type of stream they have to be in to meet that requirement in those courses.
The plans are developed, signed by the student and teacher, as well as the parents. although this plan is initiated in grade 9, we are finding that it may be better to start this plan in grade 7 if they wish to pursue their planned courses.
We’re currently reviewing this planning initiative to see if we’re going to change it and it may take some time to implement.
Over the last couple of years, I think there has been a lot of work in getting more elders into the schools and having them work with the students to pass on a lot of traditional knowledge and use that in the school.
I think there was an announcement that the minister made last year about the elder certification that was going on for the elders.
I’m just wondering if the minister would be able to give us an update as to how that’s going, whether it’s being successful, whether there is more of a need for elders in the school.
I know it has been a short time, but just maybe a background on whether this is being successful.
The elders are indeed very important to the school operations. It is also something parents want to see in the schools. Elders are the repositories of the Inuit culture, language, and historical knowledge.
Elders’ presence at schools may also be another reason why students want to complete high school.
We currently have 25 elders with certification who are working and we have a further 25 elders who are in the final stages of certification.
Additionally, the local DEAs are also given training as to what the plans are for the inclusion of elders into school operations.
Furthermore, there are elders who have not been certified, but who are working within the schools.
When the elders are going to be certified to work within the schools, the DEA has to approve that via resolution to appoint that elder during their meeting and once the elder has been appointed, the name has to be sent to the Department of Education.
This includes the types of courses that the elder is certified to teach within IQ at the school.
Once the department has received the resolution, the Minister of Education then issues a certificate with the name of the elder.
I hope that I answered the question properly.
Yes, you did answer the question, so thank you very much.
I know one of the discussions that some of the members brought up when the elders were being talked about being put in the school was to make sure that they were fairly paid and paid in the same respect as what teachers from the south were.
Part of the increase in the budget for the Department of Education of $8 million, a huge chunk of that, is going for compensation and benefits.
Is some of that going to help pay our elders? Are they part of the Nunavut Teachers Association and the collective agreement there or are they separate from that?
I also wish to thank the member for asking that question.
The Nunavut Teachers Association is responsible for that program and the elders are staff of the schools, which are the employees of the local DEAs.
Perhaps my deputy minister can clarify the actual organization chart as she was able to completely make it understandable and I want this to be as clear as the previous answer.
The elders are not part of the public service as they are not members of the teachers association, but they are the staff of the local DEAs.
The minister yesterday talked about the ASSIST workshops that had happened or have been happening in the schools and the training that has been going on in terms of helping with embracing life and working within the suicide prevention implementation plan.
I know, in some of the questioning that I had asked the minister in the past, she had talked about, during the teachers’ conference that just finished, during their professional development, that there was going to be a group of teachers who were trained in the ASIST workshop. I’m just wondering if she could report back and let us know how many teachers have been trained with that.
Hon. Eva Aariak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Without a doubt, this is very important and has to be included in all workplaces as frontline training. It is currently being taken and this is pleasing to see.
This program is called “Uqaqatigiigluk! Talk About It!”
This program deals with recognizing and preventing people from committing suicide and how they can try to intervene to provide assistance. Whenever there is time available, the subject is usually included in our training sessions and regional meetings.
For example, in November 2011, the Nunavut Teachers Association, along with the officials from the Department of Health and Social Services, taught this program to over 60 participants. They also included this subject for their meeting in February for the teachers’ conference but the trainers were unavailable during that time and that was unfortunate. However, the fact that it didn’t proceed is now being reviewed, along with planning for a replacement date to undertake the training.
We will keep the members informed as to what the status is with respect to the number of teachers being trained in this area. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Elliott: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My next question is actually taken from the implementation plan, so I’ll read.
By April 2012, so next month, there should be, between Health and Social Services and the GN Department of Education, the development and implementation of a memorandum of understanding and related protocols to mandate collaboration between Education and Health and Social Services that “will support a proactive case conferencing approach at the community level for children demonstrating indicators of behaviour that put them at risk.” I’m just wondering: has that been completed? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Hon. Eva Aariak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This program is being developed by the Department of Health and Social Services in collaboration with the Department of Education. It is a pilot project in the schools.
I will have my deputy minister provide clarification on the actual details. It is here in Iqaluit as it has been started in Iqaluit.
Once we see the outcome of the pilot project, we will make modifications as required after the comprehensive review, but this project was initiated here in Iqaluit.
Once it has been completed and the report has been submitted after the review, it may become a program we offer in our schools, but all I can say is that it is in the initial stages. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Elliott: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As of January 2012, there was to be an agreement “on a referral process that maintains confidentiality and addresses the needs of children demonstrating indicators of behaviours that put them at risk.”
The intended or anticipated result was to establish a referral process for Health and Social Services workers and educators. This was supposed to be completed last month. I’m just wondering if that referral process has been refined and is being used.
This is currently still under development.
I want to take this opportunity to express my immense gratitude to the assistant deputy minister, who has been instrumental in its development. It is still under development, but as progress is made, I will try to ensure that we keep the members in the loop.
As of September 2011, high school level youth were to have “regular and ongoing access to training in mental health, addictions, and suicide intervention as well as support from trained school staff and community trainers.”
Since that was last year in September, I’m wondering if we could get an update on what’s happening with that.
We don’t have any recent updates on this matter that we can divulge. Once we have received this information, we will return to the member’s question.
Do you have another question? Mr. Elliott.
Also, for April 2012, the co-leads on this were the GN Department of Education, NTI, with other stakeholders to “Prepare or commission a research paper which summarizes (A) the evidence based on the benefits that well-designed and implemented Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs can provide to individuals and communities; (B) best practice in implementing ECD programs; and (C) options for funding ECD programs in all communities.”
I’m wondering if that’s being taken care of as well.
We will have to look at different components as to what is happening or what its status is or what is occurring. So once we have that information available, we will release that information to the member. We don’t have that information in front of us at this time.
So is some company or someone within the Department of Education being commissioned or tasked to do this research?
Hon. Eva Aariak (interpretation): This work is currently being developed and the ADM is the lead official in charge of the planning and is trying to complete it.
I will provide that information once it has been submitted for release.
It’s my understanding too that with all the training that’s happening with the ASIST workshops, I think the intent was to have people trained in the ASIST, but then also go on to have “train the trainers” so that it sort of perpetuates itself.
At the same time, there was a commitment through Health and Social Services and the Department of Education to compile a database of all instructors, teachers, and support staff who have taken the training, and then to compile a database to have on file the number of people who could react to different things like this. I’m wondering: is that database being compiled?
The second part of that, just to save asking another question: is this the Department of Education that’s having this or is it Health and Social Services that’s housing this database?
Hon. Eva Aariak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also thank our colleague for raising that issue.
This matter is more or less an administrative issue within operations and is the responsibility of the health and social services department.
I also thank the minister for returning to the House and I am glad that the Prime Minister did not kidnap you.
I would like to ask my question on this issue, which is a short one.
We all know that within many communities, the number of our students graduating is increasing and I am quite pleased to see this happening. I, too, am happy to see our youth passing their schooling as I never graduated and the generations behind us are having success passing high school.
With respect to the graduates we are producing and with the large number of post-secondary institutions available in our southern neighbours’ jurisdictions, many of our students attending these institutions are taken aback by the demands placed on them. This is primarily due to our coursework not being at the same level as those offered in southern high schools. Therefore, our students have a harder time with post-secondary institutions.
I wonder if your department has reviewed this to determine the reasons why we’re not even on par with the Alberta curriculum that we are trying to follow.
At least the schools are trying to teach the Alberta curriculum to our students. Many of our Nunavut graduates don’t meet the entry requirements for attending post-secondary institutions in the south. I wonder if Alberta’s high school graduates also have issues attending post-secondary institutions due to not meeting entry requirements.
Does your department understand the cause for this situation?
Minister Aariak, I’ll leave it at your discretion to answer that question, which is under G-10, or we can wait until we get to that page. Minister Aariak.
I can try to answer the question at this time.
This question is frequently raised whenever we discuss education. There are various reasons as to why this occurs.
Part of the reason may be that the exam is entirely in English and you have to write it in English.
There is also the math aspect; you need a number of math credits. Perhaps this is not understandable in Inuktitut. What I am referring to is credits.
When students are completing their courses, they need to have a number of different subjects and minimum credits for each. The subjects increase their credits and there are certain requirements needed for each stream.
To look at another aspect, students may also run into problems unrelated to their schooling, such as those they face at home. Although the student may be studious and have a desire to succeed in school, the student still needs a proper space for their homework and studies at home. So the parents have to offer their support to their child by providing space, breakfast in particular, and to assist them as they grow into young adults.
When they are given support in this way, the student is usually successful in their studies and this really is a foundation for students to be able to complete their high school studies.
Another thing is that they have to meet all of the subject requirements as they work their way up to the higher grades and graduation.
This includes the fact that parents have to work with the teachers and staff of the schools.
One issue I tend to reiterate, which I shall once again state, is the absolute importance of daily attendance for every student.
When students are not attending daily, it can result in them becoming left behind.
Within the schools themselves, it is also very important to assess every student that is moving up to the higher grades so as to determine what level they are at in their education.
This is important since students will know what level they are at by the time they reach grade 12 and they can make adjustments as required or be able to declare that the student has indeed passed all of their requirements.