Mr. Speaker, virtual schooling is growing significantly in Canada and the Northwest Territories. On March 12th of this year, we will be launching the on-line version of Northern Studies 10, a course which was piloted in six Northwest Territories communities last year. This is one of the 35 credit courses currently being offered on-line in the Northwest Territories. Over the last year, nearly 250 Northwest Territories students have enrolled in one of these courses or the on-line introductory course called Information Highways.

On-line learning became a reality in the Northwest Territories last year with the signing of a two-year memorandum of understanding with the Calgary Board of Education to partner with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in the delivery of on-line courses.

On-line program delivery is particularly appropriate in the Northwest Territories where communities are small and isolated. On-line classes give students in even the smallest schools the opportunity to access a range of senior secondary courses. A choice of programs enriches a student's education and improves the overall quality of education in the Northwest Territories.

I am pleased to report, Mr. Speaker, that students in the Northwest Territories have taken to on-line learning with great enthusiasm. The completion rates of students enrolled in the Information Highways course remains well above the average completion rate for students in other types of distance-learning programs. Results from the first intake of students studying a regular credit course on-line indicate that success and completion rates will remain high.

A process is in place to ensure that we can continue to increase the number of trained facilitators available to help students taking on-line senior secondary courses. So far, more than 40 educators from across the Northwest Territories have received the training necessary to allow them to serve as on-line learning facilitators.

In addition to training facilitators who help students, we are also training educators to instruct the courses. Three educators, two from Yellowknife and one from Wekweti, have begun instructing on-line courses alongside education instructors from the Calgary Board of Education. Our goal is to have most of the on-line instruction delivered solely by Northwest Territories educators.

Mr. Speaker, the North has always been a leader in adapting technology in innovative ways to meet our needs. The enthusiasm with which educators and students have embraced on-line learning augurs well for our ability to continue to provide a quality education in the Northwest Territories.

-- Applause