Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS the Education Act of the Northwest Territories requires children to attend school until the age of 16;
AND WHEREAS 37 percent of the population of the Northwest Territories is under the age of 20 and 22 percent of the total population is in school;
AND WHEREAS the Northwest Territories has the highest student teacher ratio in Canada;
AND WHEREAS teachers in the Northwest Territories are facing increased challenges, including students with special needs, multi-grade classes, fewer and inadequate resources, and rising class sizes;
AND WHEREAS it is estimated that nearly one-half of the students in the Northwest Territories require additional support in the classroom and approximately half of those students receive the required support;
AND WHEREAS the number of Northwest Territories students with special needs is unknown;
AND WHEREAS the number of children with special needs and the range of special needs must be identified and assessed before appropriate responses can be initiated;
AND WHEREAS success in school for children with special needs is linked to early diagnosis and assistance;
AND WHEREAS the Standing Committee on Social Programs has recommended, on numerous occasions, that funding be allocated and programming be developed to deal with special needs students with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect;
AND WHEREAS the majority of northerners who spoke to the Minister's Forum on Education agreed that the Inclusive Schooling Policy is valid and desirable but also held the view that funding was so inadequate it rendered the policy unworkable;
AND WHEREAS it is projected that every dollar spent on early childhood developmental programming will result in a savings of $7 in future costs to government later in that child's life;
AND WHEREAS the Minister's Forum on Education recommended that, to ensure the needs of all students are met in an equitable way, the number of Special Needs Assistants, Program Support Teachers and Reading Specialists, as well as other support services should be increased;
NOW THEREFORE, I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River, that this Legislative Assembly recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories make an initial investment of $5 million to provide for special needs assessment and programming in the Northwest Territories;
AND FURTHER, recommends the government provide additional base funding of $7.7 million annually for special needs assessment and programming on an ongoing basis;
AND FURTHERMORE, recommends the government introduce a supplementary appropriation at the next sitting of this Legislature to provide for the initial investment of $5 million to deal with this special needs crisis.