Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Support for and improvement of post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories is an important part of the foundation for some of the GNWT's key priorities. For example, our priority that northerners have the skills to take advantage of economic opportunities requires more education for residents. Our priority that the GNWT help people to help themselves clearly relies on improving levels of education.
"Building on our Success," the Department of Education, Culture and Employment's strategic plan, sets out our objectives, priorities and actions in the area of adult and post-secondary education from 2005 to 2015.
One important activity of Education, Culture and Employment is to regularly monitor major accomplishments and trends so we can improve program effectiveness. Later today, I will table Towards Excellence '05 - A Report on Post-Secondary Education in the NWT. This publication provides a profile of post-secondary education from 2001 to 2005. By reporting publicly on results in post-secondary education, this document provides key indicators of where our system is working and where it may need to be improved.
Highlights outlined in Towards Excellence include increases in the number of aboriginal students attending post-secondary institutions. Aboriginal students are also increasing their educational attainment overall. Population surveys of NWT residents show aboriginal representation has increased middle management, health, education, social sciences, sales and service and in skilled trades. As well, enrollments at Aurora College have increased in recent years, indicating that northerners are choosing to further their education and training.
Mr. Speaker, while the results found in this publication show promising developments and improvement in post-secondary education levels, the northern labour market is booming and we still have not caught up to the overall educational attainment levels of Canada. For northerners to succeed, we need a strong system of post-secondary education and training to ready them for the work that is becoming available. Monitoring and reporting on the indicators set out in Towards Excellence are part of what we need to do to see continued improvement of our college and apprenticeship programs.
Mr. Speaker, the North has a very promising future. Our government has made significant investments in our education system. We all look forward to seeing a return on those investments in the form of increased education and skills leading to more employment and improvement in the quality of life of our residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause