Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a bit of a problem with the amendment. I support the need to identify a standard time for students in the Northwest Territories to receive instruction in the educational program. However, you have to remember than an academic year based on days, rather than hours, would prevent some of the current, innovative practices in senior secondary education. For instance, we now have agreements with the colleges and students that students can attend college courses at night and on the weekend and receive credits for them. When the schools are being renovated, they need to be able to extend their hours or decrease them. They need that flexibility, but they also have to meet, of course, standard, set instructional hours.
We need standard hours and flexibility. Varying the length of the day even by 15 minutes substantially effects the length of the academic year. If the honourable Members would consider it, we are going to be proposing in section 126 -- which is the section expressing standards -- a motion on instructional hours which would provide a maximum for kindergarten, a minimum for grades 1 to 6 and a minimum for grades 7 to 12, which is longer than in the current act of 190 days.
We would rather do it in that section, if the honourable Members would allow us the opportunity to do so.