Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the opening of a new school in the community of Ndilo. Mr. Speaker, on August 31st approximately 25 students began attending a community school in Ndilo. The classes are from kindergarten to grade three. The Yellowknives Dene First Nations have been working on this project for years and the foundation for the school is tradition and culture, with learning taking place in the context of their culture, heritage and language. To this end, a Yellowknife Teacher Education Program graduate teaches the Weledeh dialect language classes. Along with the regular curriculum, the Yellowknives Dene plan to provide the students with opportunities to learn technological skills. This project is a partnership with the Yellowknife School District #1, which supplies supervisory services through a contract. As such, the teachers in Ndilo belong to the Yellowknife #1 bargaining unit. The school is staffed by experienced aboriginal teachers. I might add that they have quadrupled the number of aboriginal teachers in Yellowknife. The school is presently located in the Ndilo education centre with physical education classes held in the community recreation centre. Mr. Speaker, this is the first step in the long-term goal of creating a new facility which house a kindergarten to grade 12 school.
I congratulate the community and the department on this project. I congratulate the community of Ndilo, first for recognizing the problem that students were largely dropping out because of the lack of culture based schooling. Secondly, for their perseverance for seeing this project through. Finally, Mr. Speaker, but not lastly, I congratulate the Minister and his department for listening and responding to the community needs. Thank you.
--Applause