Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Given the closures of all 19 community learning centres in early 2025 and the ongoing gaps this has created, will the Minister commit to developing a renewed and community-based approach to support adult learners, particularly in small communities most affected by these closures? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can confirm for the Member that I am absolutely, yes, committed to a community-based approach to adult learning. The closure of the community learning centres certainly came to a shock to everybody but certainly also present an opportunity to rethink how adult education is being delivered in communities across the Northwest Territories, especially small communities.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question is, when will the Minister present a clear and concrete plan for delivering continuing transitional education in our communities, including in-person adult learning options, to replace the services lost with the shutdown of the community learning centres? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, that plan is being worked out right now, so that includes some of the things that I just spoke of, like those partnerships with the literacy council, the outreach centres, but also it really comes down to work directly with communities and Indigenous governments so that we can use this as an opportunity to reimagine what that in-person learning can look like in small communities. And so we're working both on kind of short-term and more medium-term approach to this, and I am hoping to have something to come back to Members, and I will continue to update Members as I get more information from the department on the work that they're doing with this engagement.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from the Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that. Can the Minister provide updated information on how effective the online upgrading model has been for learners in the Deh Cho riding, and does the Minister consider these outcomes successful when compared to past enrolment levels in the region? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is the first year that Aurora College is doing their new online version of their adult learning, and so we'll have to kind of give it some time to see how this year goes, how the results fair out, and so as soon as I have some updated information from Aurora College, once they've had the time to assess, then I would happily share that with Members from the other side. I think it's going to be really interesting to see the growth of online in the Northwest Territories, especially as we see more programming at Aurora College also shift to some online options to really open up the access to some of these programs, like for example, the diploma in nursing as well, that I know has shifted to an online option too for part of it, so more of a hybrid option.
We're also seeing more success with northern distance learning, which is an option for students up to the age of 21. So we're seeing in the Deh Cho region specifically with northern distance learning an almost 70 percent successful completion rate, which is really good news.
And I can also share with Members of the House that I came to work early this morning to sign off on completion certificates for the Canadian Adult Education Credentials, so more and more Northerners are also taking advantage of that pathway as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
