Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe Mr. Miltenberger indicated he wanted to ask more detailed questions as we got into the activities, so I will leave his items until that time. Mr. Krutko had some general comments on career counselling and the need to identify job opportunities to prepare young people for the future. The department in the last couple of years has been trying to improve its results in this area. It is now required for all students in grade 9, with their parents, to meet with a counsellor and to discuss their career options and where they think they are headed. We have also tried to strengthen awareness of what some of the opportunities might be in the north by developing a number of brochures and booklets that are aimed at students, talking about opportunities they might find in various areas in the north.

I know that right now the department is considering a proposal by the western divisional education councils that would make career planning a credit course, to be taken during the CALM or Career and Life Management part of their schooling. There would be a requirement that students would earn four credits before graduating in this area, which would tend to strengthen their awareness of what they need to do, to achieve their career goals.

The Member had some good comments on the need to expand training. What we try and do right now, given our limited resources, is identify areas where we have the best potential for getting northerners into new jobs and concentrate our efforts in those areas. There is no doubt though that we have to broaden those efforts. Mr. Ootes also indicated some areas that he wanted to get into in more detail when we get to the activity levels, perhaps it would be better to leave those until then.

Mr. Erasmus talked about the pupil/teacher ratio and how that does not necessarily translate into real numbers in the classroom. That is absolutely correct. The system we use is the one that is used consistently across North America for evaluating pupil/teacher ratios. So if we were to change the mechanism, it would make it much more difficult for people to compare. While our numbers do not include the janitors in the school, it does include all of the program support staff, the specialized teachers who work in special programs in the schools. There is no question that an official pupil/teacher ratio of 18.2 to 1 can translate into sometimes as many as 30 students in a classroom. That is also in part determined by the divisional education councils and how they structure things. We do not say they have to maintain a certain level. They may choose to put more money into supporting the children with special needs and increase the numbers in some of their classrooms. It would be difficult for us to come up with a system that would be consistent across the territories because each divisional education council has to be able to respond to the situation they face in their schools.

The Member talked about inclusive schooling and social promotion. We need to remember that these are two separate issues. Inclusive schooling is required under the Education Act. What that means is everybody has the right to receive a good education in school. Social promotion is a policy that is not set by the Department of Education. It is a policy that most of the divisional education councils, if not all of them in the north, have adopted. What this refers to is age grouping so you keep students at the same age, in pretty much the same classes. The expectation, as I understand it, is the school will then work on an individual education program for students as required in those classes, so each student is working to a program that suits their special needs and challenges. The Member is absolutely correct though, that neither one of those two programs can work if the classroom supports are not adequate. That is, without question, one of the biggest challenges that is faced by education councils and teachers in the north, right now.

The Member also mentioned university transfer courses. I am unaware of there being a problem with transfer courses. I would hope the Member will give me the specifics so that I can follow up on those concerns because I would share his concerns if that has, in fact, been a problem.

Regarding the funding for the UCEP Program, I have written to Minister Jane Stewart, asking that funding be improved for this program. I know the Member indicated he thought, as a government, we could do more. Our problem is, of course, one of funding. As all Members of this House are aware, in the course of the cutbacks two years ago, adult education programs within the department were cut by 25 percent. This has really limited our ability to increase the programming in the adult education area. Finally, the Member asked is Yellowknife a campus? Yes, it is an official campus of the college. It is one of three in the Western Territory. We have three in the east as well. I am not sure when that was signed, but I believe it has been at least two years that the college has been a campus. I believe I signed the order a full two years ago.

I would like to officially thank Mr. Picco for his generally positive comments. The pupil/teacher ratio and funding for divisional education councils are not just based on school population, but it does make up the major part of the formula. While funding is based initially on that October 31st figure from the previous year, there are adjustments made for the schools that experience a significant increase over what had been expected. For instance, this year when Joamie Ilinniarvik School saw an increase of 25 percent, it did qualify for a significant amount of extra funding in recognition of that fact.

The Member also expressed interest in knowing, in the standardized tests whether or not we would be able to separate out regions. He will be interested to know that we have negotiated with the Council of Ministers of Education to ensure that future tests will do a breakout on a Nunavut and Western Territory basis, so that these figures will be more useful for the future two governments.

Mr. Chairman, I did not hit on all of the issues that all of the Members raised, but I hit on many of the general ones and that the Members will then follow up as we get into the detail.