Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a student's success in school depends on many factors. One of the most important of these factors is good health. Young people cannot concentrate on their studies if their basic health needs are not being met; for instance, if they are not eating nutritious food, or if they have not had enough sleep. There are also more serious threats to the health of our young people, including high-risk behaviours such as substance abuse.
In order to teach children good health practices, the Departments of Education, Health and Social Services jointly developed the NWT school health program, which became mandatory in all schools in 1987.
It is now important to find out what young people in the NWT have learned about health since the program was introduced. I am pleased to announce that Health and Welfare Canada has given the Department of Education a grant of $125,000 to conduct the first phase of such a study. The Department of Health and a group from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario will assist with the study.
Students will be surveyed about their attitudes toward health, their knowledge about health, and their actual behaviour. It will also assess the effect the school health program has had on the students, as well as the impact of various community factors.
The survey will ask people in the communities, as well as school staff, about the implementation of the health program in their school. This information will help determine how effective the program has been and will help staff from both the Department of Education and the Department of Health in planning for revised and new programs.
Mr. Speaker, if we are going to develop strategies that will help students improve their health, we must first assess what they have learned from the school health program and how other factors affect choices regarding their health. This project will be the first step toward gaining this information. Qujannamiik.