Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about the continuing public dissatisfaction with the standards of education in the Northwest Territories. In the 1950s, Mr. Speaker, the major concern of the federal government was to make schooling available for as large a number of students as possible, because at that time many people lived in scattered communities and hunting camps throughout the Northwest Territories. This was the period, Mr. Speaker, when there were huge schools and school residence building programs. The goal at that time was to get 100 per cent enrolment of school-age children.

It was not until the transfer of education to the territorial government in 1969 and 1970 that the focus changed to the actual content of the school program to reflect northern interests. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, over the past 20 years, despite this focus, the statistical emphasis by this government is still on enrolment -- just bodies. This forms the basis for the expansion of grades in communities and the continuing demand for the expansion of capital assets in communities. We do too little, in the opinion of many people, to measure the output, or to reassure the public about the standards being achieved in our system. We continue to expand grades in communities with no assurances that before grade 10 is added that there is an adequate grade nine, and so on. Our students, in many cases, are being short-changed in pursuit of government policy that only makes sense if it is implemented sensibly. In many cases there is evidence that it is not being implemented sensibly.

Residential schooling in the West, Mr. Speaker, commenced in 1867 at Fort Providence, and yet in the West there are still only six schools that offer high school programs. In the Eastern Arctic, high school programs are offered in 13 schools. Many of my colleagues do not believe that in the Eastern Arctic, where schools were not established until the 1950's, that the standards are so much higher than they are in the West. Many of us refuse to believe that.

When we deal with Education capital, and also the O and M estimates, I am sure there will be much discussion about this issue of quality and standards and, also, the whole issue of value for money, because there are vast amounts of money being poured into education without any reassurances about what we are receiving in exchange for it. Thank you.