Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by Mr. Hawkins on February 11, 2005, regarding Teacher Education Program graduates.
1. How many northern Teacher Education Program students have completed education programs since the Premier's office made the commitment to hire all students who have successfully completed the Teacher Education Program?
Between 2001 and 2004, 31 students have completed a Diploma in Teaching from the Aurora College Teacher Education Program.
2. Of the graduates, how many are currently employed as teachers in the North?
Ten out of the 31 TEP graduates since 2001 are currently employed as teachers in the NWT.
The current employment status of the remaining TEP graduates since 2001 is a follows:
- • eight TEP graduates are currently attending university on a full-time basis;
- • three are working in education-related fields in the NWT
- • six are employed as special needs assistants, education assistants or substitute teachers in the NWT;
- • two have other employment in the NWT;
- • one is teaching in Alberta;
- • and, regrettably, one is deceased.
3. Further, will the Premier please explain, in detail, what the incentives are that he referred to in the united Hansard, pages 2604 to 2605, on February 10, 2005, to encourage education authorities to hire northern graduates?
The Northern Graduate Program that was established in 2001 provides incentives to education authorities to hire northern teachers. In the first years of the program, each divisional education council that hired a northern graduate teacher received the incentive of $30,000 per year, regardless of the number of northern graduates hired. As a result, there was no financial incentive for an authority to hire more than one graduate each year.
4. What does the Premier mean when he commented on increasing these incentives to address this problem?
In response to question three, I have described the review of incentives carried out in 2004 that resulted in increased payments to those education authorities that hire more than one northern graduate in any year. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment will continue to monitor the results of this program to determine what impact this change in funding allocation has had.