Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Education Act is very clear on who has the authority to set sessional days. With respect to this particular problem, the school calendar year is set on April 30 of that particular year. For instance, for the 1992-93 school year, I believe the school year is going to be established by the Minister of Education on April 30 or prior to that. In establishing a school year, it says that the act requires the Minister to consult with the local education authorities before the academic year is finalized, so the community education council gets involved in establishing the school year. The school days are set by the act to be that of 190 days. Depending on the number of hours that the kids are taught, that particular calendar can be moved either way, and also in-service training.
The NWTTA collective agreement says that there will be five additional days set aside for professional development days, but in some cases those five additional days are enhanced by lengthening the school hours. For instance, I mentioned that in Hay River last year school hours were lengthened by 10 minutes each day. That allowed the teachers to have more time to have in-service training. But in Inuvik the school year was set in April on the advice of the educational authorities and the divisional board. Apparently the teachers were not happy with the in-service training. They wanted to have more in-service training, and they brought their proposal to the education council, and the education council turned them down, unfortunately. That is where the problem began, but I believe that my officials will be meeting with the NWTTA tomorrow morning at breakfast time, and also the teachers have been given a proposal by the divisional board which they could look at. I have not heard whether that would resolve the problem, but I believe it will resolve the problem. Perhaps tomorrow afternoon, when the session is on, I could update the Members on the situation. Thank you.