Thank you. I know it -- you know, I understand about the level of education but at that time, there was a lot of the mental health workers that were in the school. A lot of young people identify with them, or both, vice versa. So it worked at that time. And I just wanted to ask the Minister, since that time is there any improvements? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, through the reports of the business plan, we know that there are hundreds of contacts between mental health workers that are funded through this program and students, and so I would say that any time a student has access to the support that they deem that they need, it would be certainly a success to ensure that we're supporting students when and where they need it. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Thank you. Thank you for that information. Another one too is a modernization of Education Act. We haven't heard anything about this, modernizing the Education Act. Is there a report, or can the Minister update us on it and where it's at? Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this work continues, and I'd like to pass to the deputy minister to provide the granular detail on that. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Work is continuing on the Education Act modernization. There is a working group that's been struck under the Council of Leaders structure that has participation from those Indigenous governments who decide they wish to participate. So that work is continuing. The timeframe for that work is considerable because it involves a collaborative effort so it's working with education bodies, Indigenous governments, and others because it's -- you know, it involves a fundamental reconception of the Education Act of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Thank you. Okay, the Aurora College budget from last fiscal year to this current fiscal year kind of went down a bit, and it's probably related to the CLC and the closure of the CLC in many of the small communities. So I know that -- well, we've been talking about a lot of other programs before. And with the mine closing, you know, the only secure job that's going to be available in many of the small communities is a government job like social services, health and social services, and teachers and, you know, the people that are employed by the GNWT. That are going to be the only secure jobs that's going to be available in many of the small communities. So I just wanted to ask the Minister if there is any plan in place for more community-based training or program delivered in small communities. I -- you know, like, I mean, I don't see it anywhere in the report -- not in this report but in a college one too as well regarding teacher education program and social work program if it's going to be coming back or not. Many other young -- our people took those programs, and they're teachers. Some of them are retired now. So I just wanted to ask the Minister if there's going to -- if there is any plan in place to offer more community-based training in small communities. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, it is in the planning cycle of Aurora College to bring back the Bachelor of Education as well as the social work program to Aurora College in the fall of 2027. They rolled out their general education degree last fall in order to -- where people start with the general education and then in year 3 and 4 have the opportunity to choose either one of the other programs to transition into. So the work that they're doing right now with the college is they're able to specialize in one of those programs when it becomes available. And the intention of Aurora College is to make sure that they are supporting students to do kind of a blended or a hybrid model where they want to be able to have students across the territory access these programs online as well, or a portion of them, depending on if there's a practical component or not as well. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Member for Monfwi.
Okay. So when this happened in 2027, so where -- so how -- which campuses are going to be offering these programs? There's Fort Smith, and there's Yellowknife. In Fort Smith, I know there's a lot of accommodation to accommodate. They have the facility. But in Yellowknife, there's limited accommodation so -- and I strongly believe students should be given a choice, and I do believe in the community-based training. So will some of these communities be delivering, or will they be reaching out to the communities to deliver -- do a community-based training, especially for teacher education program and for social work program? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I don't have that level of detail yet or those decisions from the Aurora College board of governors, but as soon as that information is shared with me, I'd be more than happy when appropriate to share it with Members of AOC as well. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Well, it will be beneficial for many of our community members that don't want to leave the communities, especially with their young families. And where housing is -- we're in housing crisis in small communities, and I don't think they want to leave, you know, especially with the public housing unit.
So another one too is a literacy funding. Indigenous languages -- no, literacy funding. I do appreciate my colleagues that are really advocating for the Indigenous, that literacy -- advocating for the Indigenous students, especially with the literacy. So how -- there is an increase from the last fiscal year to the upcoming fiscal year. So how is this funding going to be allocated in the region? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd like to pass this one to the deputy minister.
I will go to the deputy minister.
Mr. Chair, the Member correctly noted that some money was held back from Aurora College under an MOU that we used to provide funding for them, and ECE has reconceived how its role in delivering literacy programming. Some of that funding is being used to support a literacy council employment training program, which is already underway. There's nine community deliveries that are to be completed over an 18-month period. The first four deliveries to take place in Hay River, Fort Resolution, Lutselk'e,and Fort Providence. And there's other efforts, including expressions of interest for services in Inuvik, Fort Smith, to gauge the appetite to re-establish some literacy programming in those communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
All right, thank you. I want to continue moving on. Is there any further questions?
I am going to go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to actually follow up on some questions I was asking on the floor today just with the benefit of the time that we have in Committee of the Whole here, to speak a bit more about the post-secondary funding formula. My colleague from Range Lake was speaking to it yesterday.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
I would like to pass to the deputy minister.
Thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The funding formula is one of a series of steps that'll need to be put in place as part of transformation. We have to focus our efforts where the need is greatest right now. So we have a general sense of what we want the formula to be able to do, provide dependable, stable funding. And I've, you know, heard the discussion earlier today about having the ability in that to provide for accountability measures as well. That's definitely a part of it as well. But it's -- these are pieces that are in the research phase, I would say, right now. So there's concurrent work going on, but we're not running out ahead with the formula. I don't want to give that misimpression. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
All right. Thank you. I am going to go back to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I guess that raises for me the natural question, what is the department putting ahead of the formula? And I get the impression that's the Polytechnic University Act, but I don't want to answer the questions for them, but can the department kind of help us understand this -- all the steps that are in place, but what's going ahead of the formula? Thanks.
Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will pass to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.
Mr. Chair, there's a series of steps. There's milestones that are set out in the Aurora College transformation on the website of the department. And our capacity requires that we focus on areas where we can -- you know, where we need to get something done on a timeline. So I am not sure that I am quite getting at the Member's question there.
Thank you. I will go back to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The deputy minister was 90 percent there. What I was looking for is details on exactly what they are working on currently. So he was saying there's a number of steps that need to be done. I am trying to better understand what those steps are and the department's progress on them just so I can have a better sense of where we're at with the transition. So I was just looking for you to elaborate on those points. Thanks.
Okay. I will go back to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for the clarification from the Member. So among the steps that we're working on right now, we work closely with Aurora College, have frequent meetings with them. We're supporting them where we can when it comes to their CAQC involvement. There is discussion on infrastructure needs. We're in discussions with them on future course offerings and the timing of those offerings. So there is a lot of discussion happening with Aurora College on a number of fronts at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I know that a while back it was highlighted that we had fallen off the timeline. I went back, and I looked at the foundational review, and I've kind of looked over it, and I note that we're not terribly off of step. The foundation -- foundational review envisioned the university being fully realized by 2028. So we still have some time. I am just wondering where we're at in the timeline knowing that the CAQC process has been pretty positive. Can the Minister or deputy minister help us understand where we're at in terms of timelines and whether they feel that we're on track. And if we're not on track, just to give them some more to elaborate on what we need to do to get on track. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, in the back of the Aurora College mandate agreement, there's an implementation plan that has dates associated with it, and we are on track according to that plan. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go back to the Member from Frame Lake.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. I will have to look through that mandate agreement again. I have scanned through it in the past but will look again. I think that's all my questions for this page for now. Thank you.
For page 42, 44, and 46, are there any further questions?
I'll go to the Member from Monfwi.
With the literacy funding, you know, it's in the GNWT stats and then so we've -- there is -- it was also identified in the auditor general report about the low education level in many of our small communities, and Tlicho was one of them that was mentioned. So, you know, I am just surprised that at this time with a study with that initiative that they're doing nine other communities were mentioned. But I just wanted to ask if Tlicho is going to be part of -- or in the upcoming, will be part of the -- will be part of this funding, the literacy funding that they're rolling out. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So if the Member is referring to the employability training for the literacy council funding that is rolling out right now through literacy council, the first four community deliveries will happen in Hay River, Fort Resolution, Lutselk'e, and Fort Providence. Those are the first four communities that are being targeted. And then from there, of course, Mr. Speaker, there's additional literacy funding from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment that operates on an application basis, and that funding goes to other communities as well. Thank you.
Thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.
Okay. Application basis. So who does apply? Like, is it the Indigenous government and/or is it education council or education authority? Thank you.
