EdinburghNLP/nunavut-hansard-plusplus huggingface dataset:
With respect to unexpected problems or closures, we generally set aside a contingency of 20 to 25 days for these events. This is to ensure that the number of school days is not severely impacted and that it does not affect students’ course work.
Chairman (interpretation): Thank you, Deputy Minister Okpik.
Did you want to continue? Ms. Ell.
Another item under the grants and contributions figures from K-12 School Operations is the funding for DEAs and the French school commission as well, I believe. The funding under this item is going to be decreased in 2012-13.
From my perspective, the DEAs provide valuable assistance related to school operations, curriculum decisions, or in reviewing new policies or legislation.
I wonder why the funding for the DEAs will be decreased.
The communities generally are responsible for these issues, specifically the district education authority.
The amounts for them don’t change with respect to their operations. Additionally, the teachers are part of the NEU collective agreement and there is a negotiation team with the union.
The funds are used for these discussions and include casual staffing funding, which have been decreased from these figures. It also impacts the busing contract. The funds for the casual staffing hires have been returned to the district education authorities.
Hopefully my answer is understandable and I will stop there for the time being. If my colleague would like to get more clarification, she can ask more detailed questions.
The DEA coalition receives funding under the grants and contributions line of the K-12 School Operations Branch budget.
Can you describe your working relationship with the coalition? How has it been involved in initiatives related to attendance, school completion, and dropout rates?
First of all, I want to assert that I was really ecstatic when I took over the portfolio for education. I met with the representatives of the DEA coalition.
We held deliberations on the issues facing them and they were quite open to discussing these issues. I am thankful for their openness and we came to an agreement that we would work collaboratively on matters that require our shared duties.
I don’t think I quite understood exactly what the member wanted clarified in her question.
Can you please clarify your question? This will not be taken from your question time if you clarify your earlier question.
The DEA coalition receives funding under the grants and contributions category.
I wonder if the minister can clarify her working relationship with the coalition. Does this include promoting initiatives for the day-to-day issues, such as attendance figures and school dropouts? You also mentioned school day scheduling.
I believe you stated that you’ve had discussions with the coalition. I was wondering if you could elaborate further.
If that is now clear, Minister Aariak, you may respond to the question.
Hon. Eva Aariak (interpretation): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also thank the member for clarifying her question. I believe it was clear earlier, but in hindsight, I was the one who was confused.
The DEA coalition, along with the Department of Education, signed off on an agreement related to the activities each will undertake, specifically in such areas as training on the job.
If I were to state it in English, it would be called the training working group.
This agreement governs what will be included in this initiative, with all the details within the agreement, and it has been signed off.
This provides direction on the path we will take in the future between the DEA coalition and the Department of Education.
With respect to the question about the particular details revolving around curriculum and scheduling training and school days, these are areas where the DEA makes decisions on in their communities.
I wanted to inform you of this aspect and my deputy minister can add a few more details if she would like to do so with respect to the DEA coalition.
Deputy Minister Okpik, did you want to provide more details on this question?
You may provide more details, Ms. Okpik.
The duties of the DEA coalition are described in the Education Act. To use this example, when our department decided on divisions within their personnel, we had to include the executive director when we were choosing the positions that would fall underneath them.
Further to this, the DEA funding related to planning is laid out in the Act.
Whenever school principals have to get together or when the chairpersons of the DEAs have a meeting together, we ensure that we include training as part of their meeting.
As an example, we have held two meetings where training was included, one session related to financial planning and we just recently started working with them on curriculum issues.
In particular, this will be used for training the DEA office staff that provides the administration for the DEA.
It became obvious that more training was required and this was identified as a priority. So we are currently undertaking the planning for their training session in cooperation with the coalition.
These are the areas where we work together with the DEA coalition.
On page 107 in the business plan, it talks about implementation of testing, perhaps for recent graduates or to assess the kind of education the students have received or perhaps related to attendance issues. They also want to conduct testing on recent graduates. I would like to know if this initiative has commenced or what the status of this initiative is.
I would like to know what has been accomplished within the business plan’s priorities as it relates to legislation. Is it already an Act? I just want to hear about the accomplishments to date.
It also seems to state that it will be applied to all schools. Is that correct?
The activities we have identified as future activities within the business plan will proceed forthwith.
If I understood her question and if she was referring to the computerized review, I believe that the dates were chosen. The activities listed will be undertaken from February 28, 2012 to March 27, 2012 in the nine schools that are identified within Nunavut.
For example, here in Iqaluit, the work will start at the Inuksuk High School on February 28 and the Aqsarniit School here in Iqaluit was scheduled to commence on February 29. The Ulaajuk School in Pond Inlet will be next and it is scheduled for March 5.
The Nasivvik High School, which is also in Pond Inlet, will be next and is scheduled for March 6. The Jonah Amitnaaq School in Baker Lake will be started on March 12. The Rachel Arngnammaktiq School also in Baker Lake will commence on March 13.
The Maani Ulujuk School in Rankin Inlet will start in March. The Kugluktuk High School will commence on March 26. The Jimmy Hikok School in Kugluktuk will be commenced on March 27.
These are the starting dates for the schools where they will review all grades from kindergarten to grade 12.
Do you have any further questions? Ms. Ell, please proceed.
On the same page, another issue… .
Perhaps it will be easier if I ask my question in English. (interpretation ends) One of your department’s ongoing priorities has been to assist DEAs in developing and implementing policies with respect to such things as attendance, discipline, and school completion.
What progress has been made to date in finalizing and implementing such policies, and will all schools be implementing the same policies?
The items we are discussing are located under the Education Act, which has been approved and passed by the Legislative Assembly. It talks about the directions provided by the public. One of the recommendations was to give more power to the DEAs and that was done.
The DEAs are the main decision-makers on issues related to their local school operations, such as setting the local policies related to attendance in their schools, in conjunction with the school principals. They are also provided some assistance from the Department of Education divisional offices, such as advice on the type of policies that the DEA can draft up, with templates available for their information.
The DEA has to consult with the community prior to implementing any policy that they want to complete.
I also thank the minister and her officials for appearing before the Committee of the Whole.
At this time, can the minister provide details on the number of graduates who complete their studies?
I wonder if there is a firm number and she ought to have that information. Additionally, how many students have just dropped out of high school? I imagine the minister has that information, so I would like to get that information.
To date and to make it more visual, comparing the 2001 completion rates, which I believe was around 22.8 percent, and in the most recent year, 2011, the completion rate went to 35.8 percent.
Just recently, in the past calendar year of 2011, the total number of graduates who completed their studies was 228.
I currently don’t have the numbers broken down into individual communities and I apologize that I do not have that information handy.
Ms. Ell (interpretation): This will most likely be my last question, Mr. Chairman, and I would like to thank the minister for responding to my questions.
In speaking about the issue of dropouts who don’t complete their studies, on page 107 of the business plan, it states that a review will be commenced on the completion rates of students, which I imagine will include parents.
It states that a review will be undertaken and I believe that this includes interviewing dropouts to determine the reasons why students quit and to try to resolve them.
I would like to know if this will be included in the review. Can the minister provide more details on this proposed review?
In speaking about the review, the work has just started and it has increased over this past year. The officials are working with the communities and their DEAs.
One of the items up for review is support programs that the DEAs can develop.
With respect to the actual evaluation process, I will defer that to my deputy minister to answer. The member asked about the evaluation process and the review of completion rates in the schools or the reasons why students drop out. I believe that was her question.
Deputy Minister Okpik, would you like to add to that?
In speaking about this review, specifically the completion rate review, it’s still under development.
As an example, the recommendations listed for inclusion, which are not inclusive, I might add, identified to date include more math classes for grades 10, 11, and 12. Additionally, they want to enlarge physical education classes. In particular, there was also a priority placed on Inuktitut lessons for grades 10, 11, and 12.
These classes are mandatory and have to be completed if a student wants to graduate from high school. These have been identified for inclusion. These will be included, as well as other matters included in the Inuit Language Protection Act that speaks to protecting the Inuit language.
This includes the bilingual language requirements for students.
Other issues have been raised in the media, particularly over the last two weeks, where a discussion has been raised about the six options communities can develop for their schools.
Examples include apprenticeship programs, lifestyle programs, communications and IT programs, and business creation.
Two communities have already started their pilot projects. In Kugluktuk, the first program is geared towards apprenticeship and they were the first community to undertake that.
The other community that has just started working on an option for their community which is progressing in Rankin Inlet is the entrepreneurship program for creating businesses. The students are learning about the work required for creating their own business.
These are just examples of current work towards these options for the communities.
We are currently working on these pilot projects, but it will change some of our detailed plans as most of these options are scheduled for implementation in 2013-14 calendar year.
On page 107 and I really don’t want to just dwell on this page, but with respect to high school programs, perhaps it will be better if I simply ask my question in English.
(interpretation ends) The new high school graduate requirements have been developed.
Can you describe how these new requirements differ from the previous ones? What steps have been taken to make sure that they are comparable to high school graduation standards in other jurisdictions across Canada?
The member’s question was sort of pre-answered by my Deputy Minister, Ms. Okpik, just previously in the earlier answer about the additions. She spoke to the details in the career and program planning program. I can supplement it further.
Here in Nunavut, the curriculum is a result of the Department of Education working with Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon, and Northwest Territories on requirements and where they will be placed. With respect to courses or programs, in conjunction with these jurisdictions, a framework is developed with mandatory course requirements included for completion of the course.
The Department of Education also has agreements in place with the jurisdictions I just mentioned.
Additionally, Nunavut follows the Alberta curriculum for high school. For example, I don’t even know the proper term in Inuktitut, Mr. Chairman, but students need 100 credits to graduate and every class they pass is added to their credits. Graduates require 100 credits and this is exactly like the Alberta program.
Along with the credit requirements on the mandatory courses, the student is required to surpass that amount by three, four, or five credits.
These are the based on their school hours and additionally they have to total 25 hours of community service.
The Department of Education is currently developing new alternatives and options specifically related to the types of courses communities would want to pursue as options.
If I were to say it in English, (interpretation ends) the department is developing a secondary school multiple options approach which will enable students to pursue a set of courses from the program of studies or major area of studies.
(interpretation) I hope that my answers were understandable with respect to this matter.
I believe the member stated that she had no more questions.
My question is related to previous questions posed by our colleagues on the issue of dropouts.
Let me start by requesting more information on students with special needs. Do younger children sometimes not attend school due to having special needs?
I would like to find out about this issue first.
At this time, this is an issue my deputy can provide more details on whether younger children have not attended school due to difficulties or special needs, so she will respond to it shortly.
However, with respect to truancy or other support programs for children not attending school, it’s also a responsibility looked after by each of the schools.
My deputy will provide more details about children not attending school who should be in school.
Deputy Minister Okpik, do you have a supplementary?
If we were to look at Nunavut as a whole, approximately 71 percent of school age children attend our schools, particularly grades 10, 11, and 12 having the lower numbers of attendees.
We also have younger children who don’t attend school that I have found in my experience. As I have been able to tour more communities this year, I have seen cases in grades 1 and 2. Sometimes quite a number of younger children are not attending school.
Yes, that was the information I wanted to understand.
To follow up on the percentage the minister referred to as the dropout rate or people who don’t complete their schooling, I believe it’s still in the 60 percentile range.
I believe that you stated that this will be the subject of a review, as per the business plan, and it’s related to an earlier question.
Do you have any idea as to what the main reason is for our youth dropping out in such high numbers? Can you see any developing trend or something that identifies the reasons for not completing their studies?
We have experienced this for many years when we look at the issue of truancy as well as the dropout rates. There are a myriad of reasons that cause students to drop out.
A while back, there was a study on these issues, but it has been quite a few years since we revisited the issue, particularly what the reasons for dropping out are, so it would benefit us to conduct another study and try to find out the reasons.
Another matter I believe is very important is to try to interview all students who have dropped out.
We suspect the reasons and therefore, we just start to speculate on the real reasons for such a high dropout rate without actually asking the people who dropped out. Perhaps if we went right to the students who dropped out, it would allow us to understand more of the reasons and have a better opportunity to resolve some of these issues related to dropouts.
More or less, the reason why I make that statement is because we have to understand that the reasons for people dropping out are quite varied and different as there is no one single reason for quitting school.
Additionally, if we’re going to be dealing with educational issues, we have to be totally aware of these barriers to our students.
The parents as well have their own version of what caused their children to drop out and they can provide their knowledge and experiences during our review of the issues. We want to establish closer working relationships with the parents as well as the communities to deal with all education-related matters.
This is another way to ensure cooperative efforts are used, both for studying the issues and coming up with solutions.
At this current time, the program we call Aulajaaqtut that I mentioned earlier is now a mandatory course especially crafted to teach life skills. This program, we believe, will bear fruit eventually. However, since the program is new, we haven’t yet seen what impact it has on students staying in school.
We will have to ensure we conduct a review on the program since it has just recently been offered.
There are many reasons that cause these problems and it is quite obvious that we have to review these issues in collaboration with parents and the communities. Additionally, we want to ensure that we get feedback from students who have dropped out as I imagine they have comments that they can pass on.
I presume many teachers may be aware of some of the reasons, perhaps along with the local DEA members. I think the teachers know more about the reasons.
I would like to know if the inability to read is one of the biggest reasons that cause students to drop out. So is that one of the reasons?
As to whether this is one of the causes, we don’t have any information to that effect if that is one of the reasons why.
Mr. Curley: Thank you. (interpretation) The reason why I’m bringing it up is that we have read stories where some students currently in high school classes have only grade 3 or 4 literacy levels.
I don’t know for a fact if this is correct or not, but if we look at the national statistics, it states that illiteracy is one of the major reasons why students drop out.
Have you looked into this matter or have you heard about this reason and, if so, what else can we do to provide more support?
Firstly, one thing we do know for a fact is the reason that causes students to drop out is truancy.
When students are not attending regularly, their studies fall behind and they don’t complete all of their required courses, so they have a hard time trying to catch up.
This is a very serious matter since attendance allows you to remain on top of your daily studies.
Moreover, there are different reasons for this problem, so I will defer that to my deputy minister to respond in greater detail. Part of my response was that one main reason amongst the many reasons is truancy and falling behind in their studies. If they’re going to reach grade 12, the credits I alluded to earlier have to reach past 100 credits.
When they are below that number, they don’t get their diploma. It is indeed very important to attain over 100 credits.
I will ask my deputy minister to provide more details as it is a big issue.
Deputy Minister Okpik, you are obligated to respond.
I will start by referring to our experiences when we were drafting the legislation for education, where we toured the communities and we also received over 100 submissions on language of instruction.
One of the common suggestions was to place a bigger priority on protecting the Inuit language and it has to be a priority.
As a result, the legislation now reflects that suggestion about prioritizing the Inuit language, including either English or French.
We have to keep in mind that the bilingual education policy is in its infancy.
All the communities have picked their preferences with respect to the language of instruction in their schools and the length of time they will teach primarily in Inuktitut as well as when English becomes the main language of instruction.
Back in the 1970s and ‘80s, English was the primary language of instruction in the schools.
When Inuit started to become qualified to teach, we started trying to use Inuktitut as the language of instruction. The majority of communities chose kindergarten to grade 3 as the grades that would receive the language of instruction. Some communities went further.
For example, in Pond Inlet, they attempted to use Inuktitut as the primary language from kindergarten to grade 6. This was something we thought may work.
We were happy to see that this was attempted.
However, with the emphasis on Inuktitut language in the early grades and with testing done primarily in English, of course, the students were unable to catch up.
Because English is being used for testing, we have implemented the bilingual language policy in all of our classes so that they are able to use both English and Inuktitut simultaneously.
As most of us are aware, children have no problem learning languages if they are taught at an early age and multiple languages can very easily be picked up at the age and it sticks with them.
Due to that reason, all students going to kindergarten will be taught in English 10 to 15 percent of the time and it will increase gradually as they further their grades.
That way, they will be perfectly bilingual and that is our expectation.
As per our stated position, this bilingual education system will be implemented until 2019, when we expect our first bilingual graduates, capable of speaking fluently in either Inuktitut or English.
I am happy to hear that response and it’s quite a good message to listen to.
As soon as I stated I was happy, I immediately recalled our friend’s late older brother, Jose, who always enjoyed discussing language issues.
This is my reasoning on this matter: if we can find out early enough the main reasons for our students dropping out, then we can set aside funds to provide more assistance. Some students require more assistance, perhaps tutoring.
If a person is not caught early enough, it may affect their aptitude towards learning. If a person is illiterate, then they can never improve their situation in life as they despise learning. Prior to the students adopting that attitude and before their lives are impacted to that degree… .
As Paul Martin stated when we were in Ottawa for an ITK meeting, if we can help government invest in literacy programs for our youth, we are opening up a lifelong door that can help them improve. Alternatively, once they have given up and we don’t provide assistance, have we not lost this person for their lifetime?
We have to try to cut them off prior to the students reaching this stage.
I will have further questions later on as I enjoy this discussion, along with the responses to our questions.
For that reason, I would like to move that we report progress at this time as I want to ask more questions tomorrow.
There is a motion on the floor. If you don’t bother to debate it, it will be much easier as the motion is not debatable.
There is a motion on the floor to report progress to the Speaker. All those in favour, raise your hand.