Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The reason for this recommendation is that the government, the Department of Education, has control over these two bodies. It would seem that in the past, there has been no coordination, so that there has been no career pathing. Someone who is coming up through the education system leading to further education, which could be undergone or undertaken by Arctic College, does not seem to follow a coordinated path. Right now, we are providing some people with the opportunity to go to southern institutions, whether it is post-secondary, or vocational, but it seems that there is almost a stop at the high school door, rather than taking advantage of the opportunities we have to provide northerners with education by continuing within the system through the Arctic College system, which we are continually developing in the centres throughout the north.
It seemed to the committee, that Arctic College was working on its own, the Department of Education with K-12 was working on its own, and as the Minister of Education pointed out in his paper, in preparing people for employment in the 1990's which was tabled document 31-90(1), Arctic College remains the primary delivery system for adult education and training in the N.W.T. That means that anybody who has gone past grade 12 has Arctic College, that more of them will have Arctic College as their option, than any other option. The two should be put together. In the past they have not. They have been operating on a stand alone basis.
This government cannot, or this department cannot plan to integrate or coordinate programs with other institutions other than talking to them, and trying to make sure that people are prepared to go into them. We have an opportunity with the Department of Education having responsibility for both K-12 and funding Arctic College, to ensure that there is a broad career pathing plan developed.