Thank you, Mr. Chairman. While there was a requirement for teachers to obtain their degree within five years or show progress towards the degree, there was never an identification of funding for that, Mr. Chairman. We wanted to ensure that funding was identified for this particular program. That is not to be confused with the program that is worked out with the NWTTA. That has a limited number. I am not sure of the number of individuals who can take leave and pursue education. It was very limited in that area. We are continuing with that.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Do we have any idea of how many teachers have to get their bachelors degree in education within that five-year time frame? Do we know how many teachers are in our system now who have to meet that requirement?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not have that information with me. I can get that information for the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The reason I asked the question is because I believe there are a lot of teachers who are now stuck in that dilemma. Sure it is a great program, but the problem we are running into, especially from what I have seen in the last year, is that a lot of teachers are having to either take a year leave from their jobs to go to school and find funding sources elsewhere. They may be accessing it through the Inuvialuit or the Gwich'in so that they can continue their education.

Right now, the program you have is insufficient. I believe they are limited to one teacher per school, per community. I think for us to meet the requirement that is needed for all the teachers to obtain their degree within that five-year time frame is unrealistic. We cannot do it with the resources we have. If anything, we have to put more resources in it and keep the teachers who are home-grown in their home communities. Also, they have to be able to succeed in their education by getting their degree. It is a problem.

I know for a fact that teachers have accessed funds and they took a year off of teaching so they could try to meet that requirement, but they had to go elsewhere to get the funds to do it.

We should not find ourselves in that situation where we are not only putting a burden on our schools because the teacher has left, or else on the teacher where they have to go elsewhere to find the required dollars to do it.

I think if anything, we should try to pinpoint this down, with the NWTTA to find out how many teachers require these funds. For us to do it at a rate of 20 a year, I do not think we are going to meet that goal that we have imposed on teachers. I think it is important that we nail that down.

I would like to ask the Minister if he has any idea where those 20 students are going to come from, considering we have 33 communities?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, we will have to provide the information on where those 20 students are likely going to come from. The $339,000 may not be enough to get everybody back who needs to go back, but at least it is a beginning. I think as we go through the year, we can do an assessment of what additional money may be necessary to achieve the objectives Mr. Krutko outlines. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Another concern I have is the whole idea of northern. When you talk northern teachers, are you talking teachers who reside in their home communities, or are you talking just northern teachers in general, where a teacher shows up in a community and they teach. They are from down south and taught in the community for one or two years and decide they want to go back and get their degree because they did not have it when they arrived. Can they apply for this program?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, these are individuals who have graduated from the TEP program. They are northern in the sense that they went to school here, received their TEP certificate, are teaching and are now going back. It is not for teachers who have moved here from the south.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

There is $180,000 to establish student success centres. Where are you looking at establishing those centres? Is it Yellowknife?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, these success centres will be established in each of the Aurora College campuses. Each campus will get one.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. We are on advanced education and careers, not previously authorized, $1,619,000.

Education and culture, not previously authorized, $611,000. Mr. Krutko.

Can we get some sort of a guarantee from the Minister that those 20 students who will be able to access that $339,000 will be distributed equally to all regions and communities so they can access those dollars? It is not centrally located or one region gets more over the other? I think that is going to be a battle, trying to allocate those funds. I think to be fair to all the communities, there has to be a fair means of distributing that program.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. We are beyond that. We are on education and culture, $611,000. Do you have a further question, Mr. Krutko?

I would like to go back to the $1,619,000 not previously authorized.

Mr. Krutko requests to go back to advanced education and careers. Does the committee agree?