Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The document Mr. Nitah is referring to is the economic report by the panel that was set up a year ago. It is an extremely important document. I have had a cursory glance at it and have not studied it in-depth.

One of the principles that the individuals that headed this up, Mr. Nerysoo and Mr. Bealieau, who were the co-chairs of this, emphasized the need for attention to be paid to the human resource development of the territory. Specifically, they have recommendations in this report with regard to what areas this education can address.

I think it is worthy and will require us to really work on this. It provides us with a challenge to incorporate a lot of this, as Mr. Nitah suggests. To incorporate into this particular department in part and parcel of the workings of this department, which I think he is correct in.

We already have some programs, and I should mention those, that we have technology studies in schools. We need to work on this as our resources become more available.

We have the Schools North Apprenticeship Program for our students. If I recall correctly how it works, they get credits for being out in the workforce and they gain experience. Again, an example which I can relate to in our community is the Bridges Program offered by St. Patrick's High School that provides students a working opportunity in a particular business. There needs to be that tie-in in all areas, from industry into schools and schools into industry. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, shop is being taught in some schools, but not all. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we have started to talk about career planning with students in junior high. I think it is an important area for us to start looking at. It has been introduced, if I understand correctly from the department, but it certainly is an important area, the area of trades and what we can do. As I mentioned earlier, there are some areas such as technology studies in schools, apprenticeship programs, but it does need ongoing surveillance and attention. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my question is about the quality of education we are providing in many of our small communities. I have seen very few graduates in the riding I have represented for the last five years.

Is it a problem with the system or is it a question of the lack of resources? I think the answer is both. If you talk to parents and students in the different communities, it takes them a lot longer to go from grade 9 to graduating from grade 12 than other students in the larger centres. One of the reasons is because of the curriculum that is being developed and having the resources to deliver different programs, especially when you are dealing with the math 30s, chemistry and biology and those types of programs, which are not available in many of our small communities.

In some cases, the students are the ones who have to put together or develop their curriculum or course loads. They have to go out and find the materials themselves so they can try to graduate. The frustration you hear from parents in these communities is why is it that it takes a student in the smaller communities somewhere from four to five and a half years to graduate, yet in the larger centres, it is only a matter of three years?

Much of it depends on the number of credits that are needed to be able to graduate from grade 12 and get the course load that you need to go on.

I believe that is one area that has to be looked at. Do you have any statistics regarding the number of graduates and where they are graduating? Why does it take so long for a student from a small community to graduate compared to a student from a large centre?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there were several questions there. On the statistics on graduates, we have those and we can make those available to the Member.

With regard to the question as to why it takes longer in the communities, we do not have a quick answer on that particular one.

On the variety of programs available in the communities, I understand what the Member is saying. We have been working on the distance education system. It was piloted this past spring with a pilot project out of Norman Wells. It has proven to be very successful. It had the teacher in Normal Wells delivering a northern studies program. There were a number of students who participated in that in various communities. I believe, and I could be corrected on this, but one was in Aklavik, Yellowknife, Hay River, and I cannot remember the others.

The feedback we received was that it was very successful and well-received. From there, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the Calgary school board to develop and deliver a possibility of 30 more programs. The curriculum accessibility for students will increase as time goes, and will be more available as of this fall for some students.

This summer, we are training ten teachers to be educator supervisors, and we will continue that training program throughout the year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Has the department looked at schools that may be having problems? Especially where you see communities who may not have had graduates since the establishment of the high schools in the smaller communities, yet no graduate has come out of those different schools.

We do put money into allowing teachers to teach in the high schools in a lot of our communities, but if we are not getting results at the end of the day and we are not seeing graduates coming out of these schools, especially for grade 12, there is something wrong with the system.

Has the department looked at the different communities that have seen this problem, where students have to go away to graduate because they feel they will not be able to do it in the smaller communities?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we have looked at this in conjunction with the DECs, the district education councils, and there has been some experience that when students leave their home community, they have not been that successful. There is a desire with grade extensions to have students stay at home.

I can give the example of Holman as one, where students were attending school in Kugluktuk. There was a tremendous drop-out for the past several years. Each time the school year started, we experienced a drop-out rate of substantial proportions. There was a desire on the part of the community to have grade extensions in that community. The success rate in the communities is starting to improve. One of the communities that had ten enrollments, I believe it was two years ago, this year had 30 enrollments. It is an example of the type of interest that is starting to show in the whole area of having grade extensions in schools in communities.

With regard to the success of that, in some areas they are more successful than others. Some who have had recent grade extensions are going through some growing pains. There are some areas that need to be addressed, but we feel that those that have been established longer are starting to have some success. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not believe the Minister answered my question. My question was have they done a review of those high schools that have not had any graduates from the people in the classroom for a number of years? Have they looked at that to see if there is a problem in the way the curriculum is developed? What is the reason for not seeing any students graduating in those schools? Thank you.

I will ask Mr. Cleveland to answer this one. Thank you.