Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and as stated in my previous comments, we are committed to giving updates on the implementation, monitoring the outcomes of STIP, as well as continuing to work with our STIP committee, and with the standing committee on social programs, to give them updates as well. The motion that was brought before us, currently in front of us here, is one that Cabinet can support, and we will also be supporting this motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have committed to fully funding junior kindergarten, as we have said on many occasions. With the funding formulas, that is something that we constantly review. Like anything else, our policies, in terms of the concerns that were brought up in terms of fully funding junior kindergarten, we still don't know the full numbers, so we are still working with our education authorities. Once we have those education authorities, we will look at going through the appropriate supplementary budgetary process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Member for bringing forward this proposed amendment. As Minister responsible for Education, I believe that the NWT superintendents, principals, and teachers know their students best. They want their students to be successful as do all of us here in this House and to have a variety of options available to them upon completion of their high school program.

Schools will schedule the appropriate hours of instructions that they believe their students require to successfully complete their coursework. I think it is important for all Members to remember that the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think communication is an issue that we need to work on, but it also needs to be addressed through partnerships with our education authorities working with our board chairs to ensure that this message gets out to teachers. I did attend some of the public hearings as well as constituency meetings where we had parents who were just getting this information presented to them. However, I know some of our education authorities did reach out as well, including us, and we did try to get the communication on the radio and in the newspapers, get it out as much as we can to get...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I said, we will take a look at it. When we do get the funds back, it is still going to be under, but we fund the ratio of 16 to 1. With the inclusive schooling, we will still be funding above what we fund for inclusive schooling. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, I do.

Yes. I just want to emphasize again that the rollout of junior kindergarten is still optional for parents to enrol their four-year-olds into the program. It is still optional. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, NWT students who do meet the required courses graduate with an NWT Senior Secondary Diploma. The NWT has set its own criteria and standards for a high school diploma, and although similar to Alberta's graduation diploma, it does have some differences. We are working with Sahtu communities to ensure that we work on supporting and having access to some of these core courses for the students in the communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and yes, we can provide that information to the Member, as well as share with the Member when we do come up with a date to sit down with leadership in the Sahtu to look at addressing other education concerns and work on successes and how we can work together to address some of these education concerns.

Mr. Speaker, the four largest Sahtu schools that are in Norman Wells, Tulita, Deline, and Fort Good Hope all offer the basic courses necessary for students to obtain their Senior Secondary Diploma. As for updates on where we are within the school, I can get the specifics and share it with the Member.

On May 9th, we also met with the leadership with the Sahtu Secretariat. We did offer coming back into the community and having a more formal discussion on how we can work together to improve student outcomes and achieve student success in all communities in the Sahtu region.