Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to comment on the school achievement indicators program, a project of the Canadian Council of Ministers of Education. The project is aimed at finding out how well educational systems across the country are doing with respect to the academic training of our youth. Annual reports will be issued to show the participation rates, retention rates, and, perhaps most important graduation rates of students in the various jurisdictions.
Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to note that the program will not stop there. A second group of indicators will provide information about the literacy levels and mathematical skills of students at the ages of 13 to 16, and will involve testing students from most provinces and both territories on a wide range of skills from basic knowledge to critical thinking. Each year we will be able to see how well Northwest Territories students compare with those in other jurisdictions in reading, writing and arithmetic, and we will also be able to find out the extent to which achievement levels increase between the ages of 13 to 16.
Mr. Speaker, during my nine years as a Member of this House I have repeatedly heard that we need to devote all sorts of funds to the recruitment, housing, benefits and salaries of southern-trained teachers. I have heard that this is especially critical to ensure adequate education at the high school level. With the CCME school achievement indicator program, I believe we will be able to see whether we have been getting our money's worth, whether our current approach to education is working, or whether we need changes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.