Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I wish to speak toward a few points here as well. My other colleagues have identified class sizes as a concern and I have that concern as well in my ridings. I also have the concern of school sizes. I understand that in the early 90s the number of students for the size of schools, the formula was increased to allow for more students for floor space in the school. This has created overcrowding in the schools and as a result there is problems that have been generated from this overcrowding which includes discipline. I am also concerned about the quality of education in the small community versus larger centres. By this I am referring mostly to the quality of high schools that is being offered in the smaller community versus the larger centres, mainly, in the area of home economics and shop work for the students. I believe that the same facilities are not available in
the small communities as they are in the larger ones. In the last two Assemblies there was a move to have high schools in the smaller communities rather than have them all centred in the larger centres. This apparently was in response to a call from the public to have high schools in the smaller centres. This, it seems, has resulted in a lesser quality of high school education and programs available to the students in the smaller communities. I am concerned about that and I wish that the Minister and his department would address this.
I am also concerned about the curriculums in the schools being offered at this point in time. By this I am referring mostly to whole language versus phonics. I understand this is a problem Canada-wide, as well as even in the States where whole language is being taught rather than the use of phonics. I have noticed even in my own children where they could not recognize words because of the use of whole language in the recent years. I was concerned about that for a number of years now where the ability to read is not there any more. But this problem is further put to a larger extent because apparently we now have teachers who are not trained to deliver phonics. They are only trained to deliver a whole language program. Apparently it is going to take a number of years, even if we adopted going back to the system of using phonics versus whole language, and it would take a number of years before we could again have students who have the ability to read and I am told that there is a very high percentage of overall Canadians who cannot read. Somewhere in the nature of 40 percent cannot read properly due to the use of whole languages in schools. I would like to ask the department if they plan to continue using whole languages or do they intend to use a combination of dual or just what the plan is?
I am concerned about adult education in the smaller communities and the availability of vocational training programs. I know that Mr. Erasmus and other Members in the Assembly spoke about there are not the opportunities available that should be available for vocational training. I am 100 percent a supporter of more vocational training for students who want to take other than high-level type jobs, like doctors and lawyers, that demand university training.
One of the concerns that became obvious to me just recently is that, for instance students going to school in my communities, all the material is supplied to them by the schools, but if they moved to larger centres like Yellowknife or Inuvik, these same students, their parents have to buy materials for them. This is a surprise both to the parents and to the students. We do not understand why that is. We assumed that as aboriginals we were guaranteed an education by the government through the land claims and through the treaties and we thought that as we received it free in the communities, it would be free wherever we went. I am surprised that if you move to a larger centre you have to buy your own materials for the students. The interesting part about it, it is not available in the schools. I know of children that go to the school, take mathematics, and they have no materials to take home to study. Whatever the material they were given they have to return that evening back to the school, they cannot take anything home because there are no books to take home. There is just the page given to them on a daily basis. I do not know if this is standard procedure in the larger centres but this is what is being experienced by some students whom I know. I do not know what it really means. It means the standards are different in the larger centres than it is in the smaller communities. Do we have a set standard? That is the question that has to be answered. Is there a set standard of education for everybody?
I think one of the major things we have to consider as the Legislative Assembly is, can we afford a high school in every small community? At what level of population do we stop and say, hey, it is not affordable to put a high school in this community. You are going to have to go to a larger centre. Is the policy of this government, for instance, is it the same policy for education, as it is for Municipal Affairs? With Municipal Affairs, the small communities get the same type of infrastructure as larger centres, but can we afford it? That is the whole question. Can we afford a high school in every community, or should we go back to the system of sending our children to a central high school? Many people in my communities say the old system, even though it had flaws, even though children were away from their parents, there were a number of good points to it in that discipline was better. Quality of education was better because children had more ability to rest and be ready for school the next day. Those types of points were being expressed in the smaller communities now. Mind you, you could say it is 50/50. Fifty people would like high school in the small communities, and fifty people would not. As a government we have to question this. We cannot find any more money for education. We have to look at whether we can cut down on the cost of the existing education system and still keep the standards or improve the standards. That is the question we have to answer, I believe. Mr. Miltenberger pointed out, putting the same money into doing a better job may be the way to go. That is what we have to look at as an Assembly.
Mr. Chairman, I pointed out a few points here and some of them are not popular. For instance, the idea of having central high schools rather than community high schools, but we have to raise one more question here why are aboriginal groups, at this point in time, requesting to take on education responsibilities themselves rather than this government? It must be related to the fact that they are not satisfied with the standard of education we are giving and they suggested they can do a better job. All those things have to be taken into consideration, Mr. Chairman, and I appreciate the time to say these things. Thank you.