Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I take it, based on the Minister's response, that the government does not then track whether we have any children who have been adopted or fostered in gay family situations?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those are not statistics that I would have readily at hand. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, regarding another statistic that is found within the Department of Education. I would like to ask the Minister about the comment he made about the quality of education in our communities.

I will use another statistic regarding high school students with diplomas. In Yellowknife, it is almost 30 percent. In the smaller communities, it is almost ten percent. That is one-third of what it is in the larger schools.

I would like to ask the Minister, where does he come up with the notion that the quality of education is great in our schools, considering we are not seeing the statistics when it comes to graduates?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure of the question here, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps I could ask the Member to repeat that.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Krutko, the question please, not too much preamble.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the point I was trying to make is that in the Mackenzie Delta, in my communities last year, there were only two graduates in the community of Fort McPherson.

Based on that statistic, does that not tell you that we are not having as many people graduate from our high schools?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things we must look at when we deal with graduation rates is that yes, there is no doubt that some statistics out there state graduation rates are not happening in certain communities. In other communities, they are happening.

I was in a community in the Dogrib region last year, a small community, and they have eight graduates, Mr. Speaker, from high school. It happens in some communities, it does not happen in others.

What we do have to remember when we deal with graduation rates, Mr. Speaker, is that a lot of these students have dropped out or are in the process of dropping out. We do have graduation rates. Those who do drop out may move into the workforce for a period of time and they may move on.

What is not taken into account in graduation rates are those students who go into apprenticeships, those students who go into the Aurora College access programs or take adult basic education. We do not count those as statistics in graduation rates, Mr. Speaker. That is a real deterrent to our knowledge of saying we have this graduation rate, because there are a lot of people out there who have the qualifications to move on to university, to college, et cetera, and take programs. A lot of our tech program people, a lot of our nursing people who take access programs do not have a high school diploma, but they qualified to enter those programs through adult literacy or access. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Spoken like a Minister. It seems like everything is in a glass bowl and everything is perfect. Mr. Speaker, in his comments, he made reference that there is a difference where you are seeing graduation rates in certain communities and not in other communities. Does that tell you there is something wrong with the way education is being delivered in our schools? We are not seeing statistics at the end of the day where people are graduating.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no doubt the challenges are there, be it small or large communities. Some of the large communities have challenges as well, in terms of getting graduates through and having them pass the grade 12 examinations, Mr. Speaker. There are challenges facing us throughout the Territory in the graduation rates. There are perhaps a multitude of reasons for that, and it is not just the education system.

I believe our educators are good people. They are working hard and diligently to ensure they provide the best possible service, as do many of our community people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too agree that our teachers are great professionals, regarding the area they work in, but again, it is the frustration of the students and the teachers in our communities that drive students to drop out, because they do not have the curriculum or do not have the resources or classroom programs to deliver in our schools so those students can be compatible with other students, say in Yellowknife or the regional centres.

Have you looked at this problem? Are there any studies going on to see what this problem is?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been looked at and will continue to be looked at. Certainly whatever we can do in that area, we will do. The delivery of distance education I mentioned earlier has provided one source of assistance for students to be able to take courses. That is on-line. It is helping students in the smaller communities. There is tremendous enthusiasm for doing it that way, Mr. Speaker. Facilitators are being trained in that area. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister talks about students being provided courses on-line. Is this his way of not saying we need more teachers in our classrooms in our communities, so that we can provide all programs and services to all grade levels? Is that his way out of dealing with the matter?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, the reality is that we are moving into a day and age of technology and teachers, educators are very interested themselves in ensuring they can be conversant with the technology. They are becoming facilitators.

You know, Mr. Speaker, the other step that we are taking in this whole program is to train Northerners to deliver long-distance education programs. We already have two programs we are delivering in that. Northern Studies is being delivered on-line. What we do with that is ensure we are not dependent totally on southern input for distance education.

As I said, and I am repeating myself, technology is here. It is a part of it. Young students are keen on it. They love the process, by the looks of it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.