Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask a question that arises out of the situation at Sissons that we experienced last fall. I am not clear as to who is responsible for what I am trying to get at, but the overall thing that I learned from this -- and I may be wrong and could be corrected on this -- was the funding for schools boards is determined by the enrolment rate from the previous year. So what happens in situations where, because of the configuration of the classes or because of the make-up of the children, is there anything in place to do an assessment as to what the configuration of classes is and maybe the possibility of getting extra help? Is that at all the responsibility of the department or do you totally leave it up to the school boards and the schools to make allocations within the budget that they have?

Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will get Mr. Cleveland to address that question.

The deputy minister, Mr. Cleveland.

Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Perhaps then I should move away from the specific topic of Sissons. The policy in general, whether it be as a result of FAS/FAE or any kind of other conditions that result in students, whether they be disabilities or family situations or whatever that results in students who need special education or special assistance, I am wondering if there is any mechanism in place that you know of that addresses and assesses and evaluates the special needs of students every year? Is there a global territorial policy that looks after that, or is it totally within the mandate of the boards?

Ms. Lee.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the answers. I think that I am getting somewhere here. I wonder if the extra funding that was approved under the Education Act that is coming in place now, were there any conditions attached there about how the budget for the special education or student support services or any of that? I appreciate that maybe it is just a block funding and it goes totally to the boards and it is up to the boards. Were there any strings attached to that in any way? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The allocation is done with the specific purpose of addressing the pupil-teacher ratio and the student needs. We do require the boards to report back to us on an annual basis on those expenditures, as we do with other expenditures as well. So there is an accountability area there for us to track on how that funding is spent, Mr. Chairman.

Ms. Lee.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. Would the Minister advise me as to whether or not we have a training program in our Territory for special education teachers? We are trying to train the teachers, but is there a special program for classroom assistants who handle the kids with special needs? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, we do have a program for training special needs assistants. It is done out of Calgary, actually, and we broker it out of Calgary, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Ms. Lee.

I do not have figures on what the needs are for special education teachers for the Territories, but I wonder if the Minister would consider looking at the demands for these positions and whether he would be willing to look at the possibility of opening a program at Aurora College to train our territorial residents who may be interested in getting into that field. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Minister responsible for Education, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We do have elements of student needs and special needs in the Teacher Education Program that we teach at Aurora College. Thank you.

Ms. Lee.

Is it possible to get more information in writing as to what this program is and what is taught there, and any other profile that the Minister could provide? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Minister.