Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. There have been some changes within the Alberta educational system. As you know, we follow their curriculum and also the AATs. NWT has used grades 3, 6 and 9 AATs as a large-scale assessment since 2007. Alberta is embarking on their own educational renewal process. Obviously, they’re making some changes to the focus on student assessment. Because NWT is using AATs that are being phased out, we also need to decide whether we want to follow Alberta or have our own northern tool that we can use. We are still currently using AATs, I believe, in the Grade 3 area. This eventually...

Yes, I do, Madam Chair.

There is, obviously, a 20-year plan for schools, Yellowknife and also across the Northwest Territories. Based on that, if there is a need for a retrofit or a renovation or replacement of schools, those are discussions that we need to have, my department and the PWS, and put into the hopper of the capital planning process. I don’t have that information in front of me. We will be debating that. We will be putting forward a proposal on the infrastructure that will be coming forward. What the Member is referring to, obviously the Yellowknife area, if there is going to be any infrastructure coming...

As I indicated earlier, we’re open to some ideas on how we can generate funding, based, obviously, on students. Currently, it’s based on students. Those are discussions that we need to have with the local organizations and also the DECs and DEAs as well.

Mr. Chair, part of the plan is to decentralize these positions and then fill the positions from there. Mahsi.

Obviously, ECE supports healthy foods in our school system. The growing program, obviously, we’ve heard just recently, as well, and we believe and support innovative thinking. How can we have those vegetables in our school system as possibly part of our lunch program? So, we’re open to those ideas. I have to work with the local DEAs and DECs, if they’re acceptable to that initiative. I need to sit down with my counterparts and see where we can go from there, but this is a brilliant idea that we should carry forward.

Mr. Chair, yes, that’s correct.

Since that information came to light in my department, we have been working very closely on ways to share relevant inspection information in a format that allows parents to make informed decisions on child care while, at the same time, protecting the privacy of child care staff. My department is also committed to making inspection information available to the public, and this will be available starting 2015-16. We’re making improvements within our department and we’re moving forward on that. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Chair, we have three positions going to Hay River, one to Beaufort-Delta. The three positions going to Hay River area linguist, Aboriginal language services; a registrar, teacher certification in South Slave; a registrar of appeals in the South Slave, as well, so those three in Hay River and one linguist, Aboriginal languages in the Beaufort-Delta, so those are the four positions that are going to regions. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Since the Auditor General’s recommendations came out, we have done a considerable amount of work following through with those recommendations. Within my department we have increased the number of regional early childhood consultants to better serve the smaller communities. Not only that but we also created and hired a territorial inspection coordinator. Those are just some of the key aspects of how we remedied the situation at hand. Mahsi.