Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to address our education system. I would like to start off by stating, Mr. Speaker, that we owe a large debt of gratitude to our teachers throughout the education system. Our teachers are to be commended for the work they do on a daily basis to encourage our children to receive quality education.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the Minister of Education and his departmental officials for the obvious increased focus they are placing on the education system...

-- Applause

...as evidenced by events like Education Week, currently in full swing throughout the North.

In Hay River, Mr. Speaker, Harry Camsell Elementary School is holding a scholastic book fair this week, along with a geography challenge for the students. Those students are also hard at work on their science fair projects.

Mr. Speaker, Peter Grimm, the principal at the Princess Alexandra School in Hay River, has said that the theme of Education Week, Changing Land, Changing Peoples, is very relevant to his school students. As most of you are aware, the school has been undergoing renovations for some time now. Peter remarked that the students have been very tolerant with each other and with the teachers and have performed wonderfully under the changing working conditions. In addition, parent-teacher interviews are being held this week at Princess Alexandra school to discuss student progress.

Mr. Speaker, I firmly believe we as legislators have an inherent responsibility to ensure our students continue to receive the highest quality of education possible. To this end, I was very disillusioned to learn of the low rankings of students in the South Slave region on the Canadian and Alberta achievement tests.

Mr. Speaker, a three-year summary compiled in November of 2001 showed that over 50 percent of the South Slave region grade 9 students scored below the acceptable standards on the Alberta test for mathematics in the years 1999-2001. I find these numbers unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. The numbers are slightly more encouraging in language arts, as only an average of 28 of the students scored below the acceptable standards on the Alberta achievement tests.

Mr. Speaker, the scores for South Slave grade 6 students writing the Alberta achievement tests in mathematics showed that only 51.4 percent of the students attained the acceptable standard. The numbers were slightly higher in language arts, Mr. Speaker, as 53.5 percent...