Thank you, Mr. Whitford. Mr. Pudlat

(Translation) Mr. Speaker, I will be reading slowly and also the interpreters will know that I will be interpreting slowly.

Committee Review

After the community consultation was complete, the committee met to review all of the comments made and issues raised during the public meetings. Each issue was addressed in one of three ways: as a potential change to the bill; as an issue addressed in the bill in any other way; or as something which was a valid concern but which could not be addressed through the act.

The committee then met with the Minister to raise general issues and to complete a clause-by-clause review of the bill. During the clause-by-clause review, the committee proposed a total of 85 motions to amend the bill, 83 of which were supported by the Minister. Of these motions, 63 represented changes in response to public concerns and 20 were technical in nature. As a result of these motions, the House will consider a revised bill, rather than the version tabled in the House in March.

Looking At The Act

The proposed Education Act is intended to strengthen community control of education in the north and redefine the roles and responsibilities throughout the system. The department contends that it is also designed to promote parental and community involvement in education and enable communities to develop a vision for their schools and for their children's learning that is consistent with their own values and particular circumstances.

Students, parents, the community, through the district education authority or through means such as advisory committees and public meetings, and educators are recognized as the key partners in education. Their involvement and participation in the education program is emphasized throughout the bill.

Bill 25 is structured to reflect the partnership approach emphasized by the Minister. Following the preamble, there are sections on interpretation, students and parents, educators, governance, the Minister and finances and, finally, regulations.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to turn this over to my colleague, the representative for North Slave, Mr. Zoe, to read the rest of the report.

Thank you, Mr. Pudlat. Mr. Zoe.

Preamble

Thank you, Mr. Zoe. Mr. Lewis.

Part I

Students And Parents Access To An Education Program

Thank you, Mr. Lewis. Mr. Pudluk.

Accommodation

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Under the terms of the proposed act, accommodation in another community will be provided by the education body in that community, as the Minister directs, if grades 10 to 12 are not available in the student's home community. Members were concerned about how much freedom of choice students actually have in deciding where to go for senior secondary schooling. Presenters also felt students should be restricted to districts within the division and the cost of funding the accommodation should be the responsibility of the home district authority. Additional concerns in this area were problems with students changing districts in mid-year and responsibility for foreign exchange students attending our schools.

The Minister pointed to the senior secondary schooling policy as the document which addresses these concerns. Members will be watching the implementation of this section to determine whether, in fact, the concerns are actually addressed.

Treaty Rights And Choice Of Education

There were discussions about treaty rights to education and any limitations on choice, particularly in the western communities. An acknowledgement of treaty rights is included in the preamble to the bill. While committee Members were sympathetic to the concerns raised by presenters, until treaty and other aboriginal rights are clearly defined, there is no way to include it in this act. To try to include it would imply a resolution and definition of these educational rights which is not the case.

Registration

Some concern was raised in the eastern communities regarding the registration date clause in the bill. It required that students must be registered by the first day of school. During committee meetings, the section was amended to allow for cases where families are out on the land and do not make it back to their communities by the first day of school.

Home Schooling Fees

The bill allows parents to be reimbursed for approved education costs relating to home schooling. As written, the section is optional at the request of the parent; they do not have to claim these costs but can if they wish to do so. In conjunction with a change made to the home schooling section of the proposed act, this addresses many of the concerns of the presenters on home schooling.

Kindergarten

Bill 25 originally proposed a floating kindergarten entrance age of five years within five months of the start of the academic year. While this provided flexibility, most presenters felt this was not the best way to set entrance to kindergarten and instead favoured a set date or a testing system. It was pointed out that with a floating date, children in different communities with the same birth date would have different access to kindergarten depending on the academic year adopted by their school. There were concerns about how this would work for children who move within the school year from a district where they weren't old enough to one where school started later and they were old enough for kindergarten or vice versa.

As a result of the public discussion, the proposed act was amended in committee meetings to have a set date of December 31st for the age of eligibility for kindergarten entrance.

Home Schooling

A new element being included in the proposed act is home schooling. There are a number of families across the NWT currently home schooling their children for a variety of reasons. The committee heard from many of these parents on approval of home school programs. The presenters felt strongly that, as long as their programs met general educational goals consistent with the NWT school system, they should not require program approval from the superintendent in their division. The committee agreed with this concern and, during committee meetings, amended the bill to delete the reference to superintendent approval.

Presenters also wanted the ability to register with a non-resident school board. However, the reason for registering is to allow for monitoring of home schooling and to provide any support the parents might want, such as partial access to school programs like drama. For this reason, the committee supported the provision that registration must be with a local board and not one unable to provide on-location support.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to ask my colleague from Natilikmiot, John Ningark, to continue with the report. Thank you.

Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Student Participation

In reviewing the bill, it was the intention of the committee to ensure all stakeholders had a voice in the process. To facilitate this, the committee met with students in some of the communities visited to talk about the bill and to gain a student's perspective. The committee realizes that students feel they could have been more involved in the development of the legislation and will try to find ways to include students in the process more effectively in the future.

Student Representatives

Members were very pleased to see a section of the proposed act allowing for a student representative to attend district education authority meetings. As a result of comments from presenters on the scope of the student representative's role, the committee feels it is important that the district education authorities ensure students, as ex-officio members, are included in the process in a meaningful way. While the committee recognized the concern regarding students' participation on issues like discipline of a teacher which may come up at an authority meeting, Members feel students should be encouraged to attend and participate in as much of the authority's public meetings as possible. Mr. Speaker, the committee also feels it is important to ensure that student representatives are actually selected rather than this clause being a nice but unused idea in the act.

Parents' Responsibilities

Some presenters called for a strengthening of the parents' role in the education process, particularly in the decision-making regarding their child's education program. The committee agreed and during committee meetings, amended the bill to have a phrase giving parents the right and responsibility to "be involved in making decisions that significantly affect the education, health or safety of the student."

Another amendment in committee meetings addressed the concern about parents needing a principal's permission to observe their child in class. This section was rewritten to better reflect the partnership between home and school, while ensuring the principal can maintain order and a safe environment for all students in the school.

Members also felt strongly that organizations such as parent advisory committees were crucial to the ongoing partnership between parents and schools. Although there is a section in the act which would allow for the creation of advisory bodies, the committee does not feel this adequately expresses the opportunity for parent advisory committees at the school level.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Legislation recommends that a phrase be added to the bill to specifically allow for and encourage the establishment of a parent advisory committee in each school.

Attendance

Many questions were raised during the public hearings about how and when the attendance provisions would be enforced. More details on the process will be included in the regulations. It will be up to each community to decide to what extent they wish to use this provision and actually charge anyone.

Mr. Speaker, the Member for Thebacha, Mrs. Jeannie-Marie Jewell, will now continue with the report. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ningark. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Attendance Fines

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An interesting suggestion was made by a few presenters during the hearings regarding the fines for non-attendance. The suggestion was that the fine money be returned to the local district education authority to assist in developing programs locally which would encourage children to come to school. The committee agreed with this suggestion.

Recommendation 4

The Standing Committee on Legislation recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment review this suggestion to determine if there is an effective and economical way of returning fine revenues to the education body which generated those revenues.

Student Records

During the public hearings, the area of student records received a fair amount of attention. There was a lack of clarity in what is included in a student record, how items are placed on or taken off a record, and a general concern about confidentiality. The Minister assured the committee that these questions about process and detail will be addressed in the regulations, yet to be drafted.

Student Conduct

In keeping with the partnership approach to education, the section on developing school rules was amended during committee meetings. The revised section now includes parents, school staff and students in the process for establishing school rules.

Student Suspension

Two amendments were made during committee meetings to address concerns raised by the public. First, there was an amendment to clarify the potential role of the superintendent as a third party in trying to find other options for a student before they are expelled. Second, an amendment clarified that, even if a child is attending school under a court order, the suspension section is still applicable to that child.

Part II - Education Staff

Recertification Of Teachers

There were many concerns across the north about the quality of instruction and the need for teachers to maintain a certain level of professional standing. These concerns included graduates from the teacher education program, as well as teachers with a bachelor of education degree. Most suggestions centred on a five-year recertification period. As a result, the bill was amended in committee meetings to allow for recertification. The actual requirements for recertification will be detailed in the regulations.

Role Of Teachers

Two amendments were made to the bill to clarify the role of the teacher. The first amendment specifically states that teachers will teach in accordance with the curriculum. The second amendment places responsibility on teachers to undertake professional development rather than just attempting to do so.

Board Of Reference

The proposed act included a board of reference for reviewing cases of teachers who felt they had been wrongly dismissed. At the suggestion of the NWT Teachers Association, an amendment was made in committee meetings to remove the board of reference and stay with a single adjudicator.

Principals

In the east, a presenter asked whether the legislation would allow a school to appoint co-principals. An amendment was made in committee meetings allowing the appointment of more than one principal in a school.

There seemed to be confusion during the public hearings regarding the five-year terms for principals. In addition to general concerns about how this would affect the decisions of principals nearing the end of their term, there were also many questions about whether a principal could be appointed for additional terms. The bill was amended in committee meetings to clarify that principals can be re-appointed for an unlimited number of additional terms of up to five years.

Mr. Speaker, I will ask Mr. Allooloo, my honourable colleague, to carry on from this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Marie-Jewell. Mr. Allooloo.

Principal Certification

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is an option in the bill for a principal to request a one-year extension on the time to obtain principal certification. However, there was no involvement of the superintendent, as supervisor, in the approval process. An amendment was made to the bill to include the superintendent in the approval process for extensions.

Assistant Principals

The public questioned why a school needed to have 10 teachers before it qualified for an assistant principal. The committee agreed, and Bill 25 was amended in committee meetings to allow the decision regarding when an assistant principal is needed, to be made at the local level.

Role Of The Principal

Three amendments were made by the committee regarding the role of the principal. The first specifies that the principal is responsible for ensuring the curriculum is taught. The second clarifies that the principal is responsible for assigning duties to school staff. The third changed the mandatory attendance requirements for principals at district education authority meetings, instead requiring principals to attend the meetings when requested to do so by the authority.

Part III - Cultural Diversity

Language Issues

In all communities, the committee heard a concern about the role of the Minister in determining the language of instruction. Presenters felt strongly that since communities could already choose the language of instruction up to grade 2, the proposed wording would actually take away some of the responsibility currently at the local level. This section was amended in committee meetings to leave the decision regarding language of instruction with the district education authority. A small amendment was also made to this section allowing for more than one language of instruction.

Language Resources

Most presenters addressing the language issue were pleased to see the recognition of all official languages in the bill. However, ability to teach in languages depends on the availability of teaching resources and materials for the language of choice. There was a strong concern that, unless the government makes a commitment of funds to develop in this material, it will never be done and in reality only a few languages will be taught in the schools.

The committee agrees that without adequate resources, most of the languages will either never be used or used only in the lowest grades.

Recommendation 5

The Standing Committee on Legislation recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment ensure adequate resources are available to ensure the development of curriculum as required in official languages of the Northwest Territories.

Cultural Variation

Generally, presenters and the committee were pleased to see the strong emphasis on culture throughout the proposed act.

Spirituality And Religion

One of the most controversial sections of the proposed act is the section on spirituality and religion. Under the current act, there is a provision for religious instruction as part of the school program. In the proposed act, this provision was removed in response to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Presenters in every community raised concerns regarding the changes to religious instruction. They felt that Bill 25 takes away from the opportunity to provide doctrine-based religious instruction through the schools. The only option for religious instruction of this type would be through a local program option which took into consideration the beliefs and feelings of those of different faiths.

After considerable debate and discussions about what avenues were open legally, the paragraph of the bill regarding religious programs by the district education authority was amended during committee meetings. Most Members agreed that what was important was the teaching of spirituality and the values that come from a strong sense of spirituality. Therefore, the amendment removes the references to religion and provides the opportunity for a district education authority to provide instruction in spiritual values and beliefs.

Part IV - Governance

Superintendents

Education boards were very concerned over the proposed section of the bill which suggested that the Minister was responsible for the appointment of superintendents. Currently, superintendents and directors are appointed by the boards. In keeping with the idea of more local control, an amendment was made removing the paragraph referring to the Minister appointing a superintendent. This leaves only the references to a superintendent employed for an education division.

Education Bodies - Specific Concerns

Concerns regarding the attendance of education body members at meetings, number of members on a district education authority, terms of office, in camera meetings, alternate members for divisional councils, and filling vacancies were raised during the public hearings. In response, the committee made a number of amendments during committee meetings.

The amendments included:

- flexibility in the number of district education authority members, between five and seven;

- a correction to the election date;

- a clause adding an alternate representative to the divisional council with full responsibility;

- limitations to in camera meetings based on the regulations;

- clarification that divisional education councils are corporations;

- the ability to easily fill vacancies even if there is only one vacancy; and,

- a reduction in the number of meetings an education body member could miss before losing their seat.

Requesting A Different Structure

The proposed act allows communities to petition the Minister for an alternate form of education body. This answers the concern about recognition of local forms of governance already established. There were questions raised about the petition process. While the actual process will be defined in the regulations, the committee did amend the proposed act to require the Minister to respond to a petition within 90 days.

The Responsibilities Of Education Bodies

A key issue for the committee was the responsibilities of the different education bodies. Presenters expressed concern over the flexibility and lack of clarity in how this new system of governance would work. While the emphasis on local involvement in education is applauded, Members felt that the division of powers between the district education authorities and the division education councils is so flexible and lacking in structure that confusion will arise, resulting in the status quo rather than increasing local powers. Members were also concerned about how divisional councils would operate efficiently and economically when they provide a different set of services and support to each of the district education authorities within their mandate. If this system of governance is to be successful, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment will have a major task of working with the various education bodies to facilitate a satisfactory sharing of duties which will meet the needs of each community.

Presenters wondered why the existing names, divisional board and community education council, could not be retained. The committee understands the department's explanation that this is a completely different system of governance that requires new names. However, a question remains about whether the education bodies could choose to retain their current titles regardless of the formal terminology in the legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I will now defer to the Member for Inuvik, Mr. Fred Koe.

Thank you, Mr. Allooloo. Mr. Koe.

French As A First Language Issues

Bonjour, M. President. The various Francophone groups in the NWT were consistent in their message to the committee that the proposed legislation did not go far enough to address the rights granted to a French language education under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In considering these concerns, the committee received additional legal opinions on the issue. As a result, a number of amendments were made during committee meetings to various parts of the bill. These amendments provided additional definitions or clarified the governance structures for French as a first language schools. The committee is satisfied that Bill 25, as it is now written, should address the requirements of section 23 of the Charter.

Part V - Role Of The Minister

Role Of The Minister

A major criticism of the proposed act was the wide-ranging powers of the Minister. The many references to ministerial authority did not seem consistent with the partnership approach and increased local authority cited in the preamble and statements about the new act by the Minister. A number of amendments made during the committee meetings addressed this concern. References to approval by the Minister for things like hiring superintendents and choice of language of instruction were removed from the bill.

As a result of these amendments, the committee feels that Bill 25 is now more reflective of local control over education and the Minister's role is more one of setting standards and curriculum and providing general policy direction.

Part VI - General

Regulations

The proposed act provides a framework for the Northwest Territories education system. However, the details of how things will really work are found in the regulations. A number of items found in the current Education Act are to be moved to regulations. Many presenters expressed a concern to the committee that leaving so much to the regulations did not ensure that the concerns of the public or the legislators would be addressed. The fact that regulations do not require approval of the Legislature or public consultation only strengthened the concerns. Members strongly agreed with the concerns about the regulations.

The committee was therefore very pleased with the Minister's agreement to an amendment which, for the first time in territorial legislation, places a requirement on a Minister to consult on the regulations in an act. The proposed act requires the Minister to consult with education bodies and, where appropriate, other interested parties on any new or amended regulations relating to the act. This consultation is to apply both to proposed regulations and on the actual drafts of regulations. The committee believes this amendment will ensure that the concerns of the public and education bodies will be heard and addressed in the regulation-making process.

Mr. Speaker, I will return the report back to our chairman, Mr. Whitford, for the committee's final remarks. Merci.

Thank you, Mr. Koe. Mr. Whitford.

Acknowledgements

Hear! Hear!

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Whitford. Mr. Whitford.

Motion To Receive Committee Report 11-12(7) And Move To Committee Of The Whole, Carried

Thank you, Mr. Whitford. The motion is in order. To the motion.