Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will ask Mr. Devitt to respond to that question.
Debates of March 13th, 2002
This is page numbers 597 - 648 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.
Topics
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Mr. Devitt.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
Devitt
Mr. Chairman, the schools are funded largely on a formula. It is primarily enrolment driven and block-funded. Thank you.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Mr. Nitah.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If you have a school, again it is based on population. Again, we are assuming the needs are going to be less if the number of people involved is less. However, a school is a school. You still have to pay your water bills. You have to pay your fuel bills, car bills, et cetera. In that sense, why would you rely so heavily on enrolment? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Mr. Ootes.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Those items are taken into consideration when funding. We take into consideration administrative costs and so forth when funding districts. Our funding goes to the district, and in turn the DEAs receive their money for the schools. Mr. Devitt can explain this a little more in depth, but as I said, we do take all those costs into consideration in funding community schools.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Mr. Devitt.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
Devitt
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister is correct that we do recognize both the base needs of the programs and the higher need of small schools, particularly small high schools in our formula. Thank you.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Mr. Nitah.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Those base needs that he referred to, are they based on the cost of living of the community?
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Minister Ootes.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Mr. Devitt.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
Devitt
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The formula takes into account a number of factors, including the cost of living and also the differences in economies of scale based on the size of the school. I should also mention the formula in a number of areas takes into account program needs. Thank you.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Mr. Nitah.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in my travels as MLA and as chair of the Special Committee reviewing the Official Languages Act, one of the biggest complaints I receive is that funding allocated to schools for language teaching always gets used up in other areas of responsibility because the schools are continually running out of funds to deliver their programs. They are dipping into what should be going for language teaching and putting the funding into other areas of the school. The teaching of language is not legislated and it is not a major requirement, but for those courses that are legislated and have to have it, there does not seem to be enough money and schools are taking it from other pots of money.
Can the Minister tell me if he feels that the funding provided to schools is sufficient, and if it is sufficient, why are they dipping into other financial resources to top off what they are getting? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Minister Ootes.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 640
Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The funding that is provided is not only directly for the school, but also some of the funding goes to the development of curriculum like the Dene Kede, Inuuqatigiit and programs like that, and development of resources for the schools. Again, the special committee is doing extensive work and we look forward to the sort of areas that they can make recommendations to us on that would help us address the issues. Thank you.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 641
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Mr. Nitah.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 641
Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I will get back to that after my next statement. Mr. Chairman, in my riding I have a big problem with teachers resigning mid-stream. It is not regular that we see teachers staying over for the following year, if they complete a year at all. One of the things they attribute the resignations to is the lack of discipline by the students in the schools. I know there is a responsibility on the side of the parents here, but the department should be able to do something to assist the educators in the schools when they have problem areas. What is the policy of the Department of Education when it comes to disciplining the students in the schools? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 641
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Minister Ootes.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 641
Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are a number of programs that we have been working on to deal with the whole issue of stability in our school system. One of the areas that we looked at was to see how teachers were introduced into the school and into the community. We developed the Teacher Induction Program, which provides an opportunity for a new teacher to the community, or a new teacher to teaching, to have some support provided and an introduction properly to the school, to the community and to the teaching profession, which will help stabilize. Across the country, Mr. Chairman, experience indicates that there is a 10 to 20 percent turnover within the first couple of years in teachers. That has been an issue.
The other item that we have been concerned about has been in the area of behaviour within the classrooms. We have developed an approach to look at other jurisdictions, and an Effective Behavioural Support Program has been introduced into our system. Many of our DECs are starting to adopt that. That is to deal with discipline problems and approaches in the classroom.
The other item is school support, community support and parental support, which I think Mr. Nitah has referenced. When we did our student needs survey, the issue of parental support was one of the areas identified. Students need community parental support. Again, through our Early Childhood Development Program, we are starting to address that and looking for resources and methodologies by which we can introduce that into communities, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 641
The Chair Leon Lafferty
Thank you. Page 9-19. Mr. Nitah.
Committee Motion 16-14(5): Recommendation To Track Student Debt Load (carried)
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 641
Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am glad the department is doing some good work in the area of early childhood development responsibility. I think that will go a long way in addressing a lot of the concerns I am raising in terms of discipline problems, graduation problems and the advanced education, et cetera. However, we still have a problem to do with disciplinary problems with students. There are threats that I know of. There have been criminal charges laid where teachers are threatened. It is not acceptable.
I know there is a policy of not punishing the children physically in the schools. I am not entirely in agreement with that policy because people in the developmental stage do need direction, and sometimes corrective action is required. However, Mr. Chairman, I would like to know, what is the department doing to deal with the discipline problem that we see in our schools today that is contributing to disturbance in classes and disturbing other students? It is a major problem. I would like to know if the Minister knows if FAS or FAE plays a role there? We are starting to get the picture now. It is starting to become a major problem. It is taking up to 40 percent of some of the classes. Is there a link here, Mr. Chairman? Thank you.