Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are three field-based teacher education projects operating right now within the Northwest Territories. These projects offer an alternative to attending college for two years in Iqaluit or Fort Smith or taking correspondence courses over a significant period of time. The teacher education projects offer two-year programs in the Keewatin Region, in Arviat, Baker Lake and Rankin Inlet, and in Hay River and Rae-Edzo.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the intention of these two-year projects was to attract aboriginal students, especially those with experience in the schools, to teach education while offering training within their home communities. There is a high teacher turnover in the Northwest Territories and not enough aboriginal teachers, but many people who would like to become teachers simply cannot leave their homes, families and jobs for the time it takes to attend college in Fort Smith or Iqaluit, and it is not acceptable for the children of the Northwest Territories to be forced to wait until aboriginal people who would be good teachers take all of their correspondence courses after hours.

Mr. Speaker, I am told that 10 students have graduated from the Rae-Edzo project and that two are presently attending at Hay River. I am pleased to inform the House that the teacher education program within the Keewatin communities has been certainly the most successful ever in the Territories in terms of training the most aboriginal people to teach within their communities. The project has been greeted with enthusiasm, and there has been a great demand for courses. At present, there are 25 students attending the program full time, and approximately 10 take courses on a part-time basis. There are also 12 more students who are eligible to join the program for its second year.

But, Mr. Speaker, this brings me to an area of great concern. Many of the students who have enroled in the community teacher education projects were already employed as assistants within the school system and so would bring valuable experience to a teaching position. These students have been eligible for...