Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, graduation numbers from across the Northwest Territories continue to rise, and while we don’t yet have the graduation rates confirmed for 2008, I am pleased to say that the graduation numbers are up again. This is worth celebrating, but there is still work to do in supporting our Northern students to achieve their full potential and succeed in education.

Data gathered by ECE over the last 10 years shows a steady increase in graduation rates for all NWT students. In 1998, 39 percent of NWT students graduated compared to 57 percent in 2007. In 1998, 20 percent of aboriginal students graduated compared to 65 percent of non aboriginal students. Ten years later in 2007, 44 percent of aboriginal students graduated compared with 70 percent of non-aboriginal students. The gap has narrowed slightly but we must continue to further improve these results. Although the NWT has the highest graduation rates for aboriginal students in Canada, we have more work to do.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment has begun work on an Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative to find the root causes and solutions to eliminating this gap in student success.

We already know some of the barriers to student success in the NWT. Our students are absent from school an average of one day a week, more than 30 days a year. A student who misses two days of school a month, or 20 days a year starting in Grade 1 will have missed the equivalent of a full year of schooling by grade 10. A student in that situation would not be working at a grade level that he or she could be working at and would be reducing their choices and options that can affect their future. We all need to work together to find ways to get our students to class so they can maximize their potential.

Mr. Speaker, literacy is also an issue in the NWT. Our students need opportunities to focus on their literacy skills, not only in the classroom, but also at home and in their communities. The recently released NWT Literacy Strategy focuses on literacy development in early childhood, and in youth. The work of the Literacy Strategy will be well aligned with this initiative.

The Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative is coming at the right time. The Dene, the Inuvialuit, and the Metis all have a strong commitment to improving the educational success of Northerners. The Council of Ministers of Education Canada will be meeting with national and regional aboriginal leaders later this month to find solutions to the same achievement gap at a national level.

Creating good schools and an environment that values learning and rewards hard work cannot be the sole responsibility of educators. It requires the cooperative efforts of the entire community. The Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative seeks to bring our communities together to build a better future for our northern students. As we move forward with this initiative, I look forward to sharing more of what we learn and how we are able to make positive changes. Mahsi.