In our early childhood education area, Mr. Speaker, to ensure the youngest members of our population have a positive start in life, we have:
- provided funding for 15 language nests - a program whereby the elders and community language speakers work with preschoolers to develop and encourage aboriginal languages, and
- funded the northern parenting and literacy program in conjunction with the NWT Literacy Council - workshops and community family activities in three communities, including training of 150 family literacy coordinators.
Initiatives such as these have been critical to laying a foundation for our youngest citizens to becoming literate and able to prepare them for school.