Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education, Mr. Dent. It is in relation to my opening statement and the problems that we see arriving in our communities. One of the big concerns you may have heard on the radio and it has been in the news, is the problem in the Beaufort Delta region with over-crowding in our classrooms and also a wide range of student needs with regard to books, computers, equipment for science, chemistry projects, which are not available in a lot of our smaller communities. There is a high number of special needs students which are being identified in our communities, but do not have the adequate services to allow them the ability to partake in a lot of these classroom projects. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is, what is being done to deal with the problem in regard to the whole area of overcrowding and the high enrolments we see in our classrooms, and with cuts we have taken regarding teachers and assistants at this time? Can the Minister tell me exactly what is being done to improve in the area of allowing for more teachers in our classrooms? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the formula we use to fund the divisional educational councils in the Northwest Territories has not changed over last year in terms of the pupil/teacher ratio. That means we are still slightly over 18 students per teacher on average. As Members will remember, I have previously explained, that average figure includes positions such as principals and other non-teaching positions, so in the actual classroom, you will wind up with significantly more than 18 students to one teacher. We do not have the funds in the budget to change that formula. In one school in the Member's riding, there has been a seven percent increase in school population, and what our formula does allow is for, is extraordinary funding for schools where the population grows by more than six percent. That school will, in fact, be able to qualify for extra funding to increase the number of teachers at the school. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the other item I touched on in my statement, Mr. Speaker, was the whole area of materials and the needs of students. One of the concerns I have heard is the whole area of materials being available to students, especially the ones in the high school, who are going off to college or university, but not having the materials to basically conduct their studies in regard to the sciences, and mathematics, where a lot of times they have to go out of their way to find their own materials to do these different projects in order to get their credits. I would like to ask the Minister, what has been done to ensure that materials are available to all schools in the Northwest Territories, so that senior classes, especially the ones going off to grade 11 and 12, have the same materials that they have in the larger centres, so they can also have the available credits to go to university? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following on my Member's statement, this government provides training to employees through a number of sources, for example, the college system or through internal processes. It seems as though little of this is directed in the area of trades. We have focused on entry level, for example. We have heard a lot about the Mine Training Program that has been going on the last couple of years. My question to the Minister of Education is, is there training for trades people once they have been hired on within this government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am sure that Members will remember that I have spoken of our Trades Training Program in the North or the Apprenticeship Program in the past. In fact the Northwest Territories rates highest in Canada in terms of per capita trades training. Since 1964, when the program was started, we have trained over 4,000 people through apprenticeship to trade certification. All of our efforts are aimed at assisting people to complete their trade certification. Through typically four years of apprenticeship, we support employers who provide jobs for apprentices and we support the schooling. However, once a person is journey certified, I do not believe we have any programs to support further training. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister for that response, but is there available, through your department or other departments on their own that provide training now to employed staff available, not through apprenticeships but employees that have been hired as a clerk or a senior position in the government, is through your department or is it through each specific department that takes care of these training programs that are available to existing employees? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, employment education programs which are available to government employees are actually funded by each department. Training programs are coordinated through Education, Culture and Employment at the regional office level. Therefore, the regional offices are responsible for coordinating the training programs, but the actual funding comes from the individual departments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your department or regional offices actually provide training to hired staff in the trades field, would it have to be initiated by the departments they are employed under? Thank you.