Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Honourable Charles Dent, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, regarding the nationwide academic tests. The other day I tabled a letter from the Mayor of Yellowknife. He had sent this letter to the Minister which expresses concern about getting information out on how Yellowknife schools placed in respect to the national test. The mayor pointed out that the Yellowknife Public School, which he attended as a child, was always one of the best in the Alberta system. The Alberta system today, Mr. Speaker, is apparently one of the best in the country. Also, the mayor pointed out the French immersion students are today on a par with Alberta systems and Alberta students.

The mayor's point was the Yellowknife schools may be on a par on a national basis, so does that mean the rest of the territory is far below because the tests indicate that? The mayor's question was, and I wonder if the Minister could answer it, how did the Yellowknife schools perform in terms of the national tests? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I have previously advised this House, the National School Achievement Indicators Program does not separate out results by community. The results are given to each jurisdiction, being each province or territory, on the basis of the whole province or territory. I think it is important to remember that indicator tests, such as this one, are used to give a broad indication of how students are doing.

They are used to identify areas where curriculum needs to be strengthened perhaps to ensure dealing with a situation. It is dangerous to take a test like this and make inferences that students are performing well above or well below what the national average might be. These tests are not necessarily normed for our population in the north. I think it is very important they be taken in context and used for the purpose for which they were designed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's answer and the difficulty he may have in coming up with information which identifies specific areas of the territories. It would seem to me that we should know this. We should know how the various communities score because after all, is that not how we are able to pin-point where the difficult problems may lay? There are obvious reasons for certain areas not performing as well as others. Could the Minister tell us if he can pursue the possibility of obtaining and segregating the information by large geographic areas, east, west, but also Yellowknife and some of the major centres? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the Member is referring to the School Achievement Indicators Program, the answer is no. The tests do not indicate at which school they were taken. All of the Northwest Territories tests look the same to the markers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since it is difficult to segregate out, I really find that for many people such a test is really irrelevant, because it does not pin-point where our difficulties lie. I am wondering if the Minister could address this issue and institute the possibility of our own testing system, so we can pin-point how particular areas and schools do.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I have said earlier, we need to remember the purpose of this testing is to provide jurisdictions with an overall indication of how well their curriculum is working. In response to earlier tests, it is important to remember we have made changes to our curriculum. We came up with a numeracy and literacy strategy to strengthen the curriculum in those areas given the results from previous tests. This test may indicate, once we have the specific details, where we need to undertake a similar sort of strategy with science.

The program does not cost the Northwest Territories very much. The federal government, Human Resources Development Canada, pays almost all the cash costs for this program across Canada. Therefore, it is an easy one for us to participate in. It is a very expensive program across Canada. I am satisfied we have other ways of checking how well our students are doing through divisional education councils, divisional education authorities, and through results such as the grade 12 examinations, in which 50 percent of the final mark is based on an Alberta departmental. Also, through the efforts of the ministry to keep track of how our students appear to be doing, I am satisfied that as part of our overall monitoring of how well students do, it is certainly worth while for us to participate in the School Achievement Indicators Program, especially as all costs are borne by the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would not argue with the Minister. It is beneficial for us to participate and I appreciate that it is paid for by the federal government. I also realize the tests do not take into account the many different cultures we have here in the north and the language differences. I do appreciate that it is difficult to extrapolate the specific areas and how they are performed.

Going back to my earlier question, it would seem there is concern by people like the Mayor of Yellowknife. How do the Yellowknife schools compare? How do they compare, and this test does not do that. I am wondering if the Minister could look at this whole issue of performance by territorial students because it will impact on a national basis when they go to apply to universities and other institutions. I am wondering if the Minister could address the questions I have posed and see if there is a possibility of segregating areas so we have a more definitive idea of where performance is good, and where performance is not good. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are always interested in looking at performance indicators. I would expect the department will continue to look for ways which we can assess performance and ensure it is adequate. We have a good set of indicators in place. Graduation rates being one of the best indicators of success in our system. As I have pointed out, 50 percent of the final mark in grade 12 is dependent on a departmental exam which is shared with Alberta. That alone gives us a pretty good comparison as to how our students compare with those in Alberta. We need to remember each divisional education council has to have the flexibility to work within their system to find what works with their students. We have to be careful about taking an approach which might be too rigid across the territories and might not respond to regional needs.

I am satisfied, Mr. Speaker, with the current system. The Member can be assured that the department will continue to look for ways to demonstrate the NWT students are achieving success. I also would like to express some concern about the Member's indication that these national tests will have any relation to how students do in southern universities. Mr. Speaker, southern universities or southern colleges take a look at a student's transcript. They do not look at just a graduation certificate, they do not look at a diploma, you only get admitted to another institution based on your transcript. That includes the marks on each and every course the student takes. As I have said, a good portion of the marks the grade 12 students now receive is based on departmental exams from Alberta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member has pointed out the objective of the program is to encourage the development of arts in the Northwest Territories. I am not aware of grants being given to individuals or groups who are outside of the territories. The information I have shows all of the contributions as having a municipality located in the territories beside the recipients name. I am not sure if there is a specific instance the Member wishes me to look at. All I can say is the Arts Council recommends to me who should receive these awards and I would expect they would have some basis or background for making their recommendation. If there is some specific instance the Member would like me to investigate, I would be happy to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.