Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. I’d like to thank the Member, as well, for meeting with the students, because it is very important to listen to those students, to hear their ideas, concerns and suggestions. Those areas are being brought to our attention here today, so we will be following up with those ideas particularly to Iqaluit and also Yukon College. Some of the examples brought to our attention here today I will be addressing with the college as well. Mahsi.

Those are discussions that we will be having with the college. There are certain initiatives happening in the college, the review of the overall training initiatives, so there will be those discussions. Aurora College with its three main campuses, serving the 32 communities, are going through their growth and objectives long-term plans. So they will be meeting, I believe in June, and they’ll be discussing this particular subject, as well, to my understanding.

Inuvik and the other two campuses, as the Member alluded to, provide child care programs. Inuvik students have access through the...

Part of the process that we are going through is, again, working closely with the school boards across the Northwest Territories and working closely with the provincial jurisdictions. I mentioned the Quebec model and also the Alberta model. We are going to be making changes through the Education Renewal Initiative pertaining to Alberta making changes. It’s coming. We know that substantial changes are coming. So through the mathematical curriculum, we will be making those changes as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

There’s been a lot of recent discussion about Discovery Learning versus traditional learning, particularly relating to mathematics. Alberta has again... We are referring to Alberta because we use their curriculum, as well, both nationally and internationally in mathematics education for well over a decade. So we are learning from Alberta, our neighbouring province. The math curriculum that we use in the NWT has been adopted by other provincial jurisdictions in Canada. As an example in Quebec, they have done very well as they embrace a new approach to student learning. They focus on attention...

We have a Board of Governors that have their meetings in our colleges, in our communities. They are accessible to the students, to the general public. We have an open forum, we have an open dialogue when there is a Board of Governors meeting. There is one coming up in Inuvik in June. It is opened up to Inuvik to residents and students at Inuvik campus. There are meetings in Fort Smith; there are meetings in Yellowknife. Those are accessible to students and the general public. We will continue to open doors to those students.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for meeting with the students and also Members as well. We are here as elected MLAs, elected officials. We represent the students as well. We have a Board of Governors, one from each region, that are responsible for their committee, for their regions and they represent the students. So it is not only the students that represents at the Board of Governors level, but all the board members.

This is an area that we are closely monitoring, and having the student representatives has been grateful for the Board of Governors. We will continue to push...

I laid out plenty of accountability that we deal with as the Board of Governors and with my Department of Education, Culture and Employment. We continue to strengthen that into the communities and into the regions. Under accountability of the Board of Governors, again, we have representatives from each region that represents these students, that represents the general public, the regions, the communities. As a department, I work closely with the board chair to make them accountable to the general public and to the students. I have laid out what I have committed already. I will be addressing...

I heard three questions in there, so I will answer one of them. My department is listening carefully and taking notes as well.

We have a Board of Governors representing the students. We have a student representative on there as well. Most of the organizations do not provide personal e-mails, but I will be addressing that with the president and Board of Governor chair. If we can allow board members to have their e-mail address and phone number on the website, then we can make that accessible for the general public of the Northwest Territories. I am making a commitment to address that with the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Return to Written Question 1-17(5), I wish to table the following two documents, entitled “Standard Income Assistance Benefits by Household Composition” and “Income Assistance Distinct Cases and Payments in 2012-2013.” Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The truancy is obviously an important area for education renewal. The issue of attendance is being actively discussed at the national stage and also internationally. One of the reasons, I guess, for education change is it is happening everywhere. Alberta is changing their whole education system.

The Member is correct that some of the students are missing up to one day a week of school, which translates into almost two years. We’ve had discussion with that Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative as well. This is not acceptable and it compromises the students’ success in the...