Mahsi, Madam Chair. We talk about the overall ERI. It’s a huge undertaking. We’re hearing from Regular Members that this is a big initiative, and we also hear about the JK, obviously the decision from October 30, 2014, to put a stop to the second and third phase and to continue with rolling out to the small communities for last year and also next year. So, we continue to work with the school boards on that. We have 19 communities going forward and 18 the following year.
Keeping the kids in school, obviously it’s a priority. We’ve given out posters and pamphlets. Obviously, this is for outside schools where kids usually hang out when they’re skipping class. It’s a message from their peers. It’s a message from the youth that they associate with. It’s not our message as a department, but it’s their messaging. So, I think we want to make that clear; it’s coming from the youth, all these messages. We’re hoping that this will get some attention from those individuals who are just wandering around in the community.
Inclusive schooling, obviously the evaluation status, Member Bisaro talked about that, when the report is coming out. Part of the report obviously will be concluded and ready for March 31, 2015. That is our target date, because this is another huge undertaking that we’re very serious about, how we currently fund the school boards.
Another one is Income Support, the policy. Obviously, the policy had a dramatic change in 2007 and we are going through another change in 2015, this year. So, with any policy we do make changes that reflect the needs of our clientele, the northern residents.
The college budget obviously will be before you, through my department. We provide funding on an annual basis and they decide operations and maintenance of the college. They have their own expenditure and they account to us, as well, as a department. So, we will be delivering that through this venue.
JK, again, a lot of pressure, as Member Bouchard has indicated. We are currently, again, continuing to work with the school boards on this particular area.
ERI, again, we are working with the Literacy Council to have plain language on what would be the funding, what kind of programs would be available and what changes are coming. We will be
getting into detail, Madam Chair, as we get into our mains.
The iPad system that the Member has referred to, obviously that’s an area that we will be doing a pilot project beginning this month, in March. We’re dishing out at least a hundred iPads on a trial basis to the parents, and we’re going to find out where the kinks are and what needs to be fixed and so forth. Then, in the fall of this year, the remaining iPads will be distributed to the new parents. So we’re fully aware of the system support. The mechanism should be place, I fully agree with the Member. This is an area where we are working with the system within the Education department and also DECs and DEAs. They have their own resources that we need to work with on the IT.
Post-secondary students linked to job opportunities, this is exactly what we’re doing. It is part of the growth strategy. We have made some changes in our policy about how we can have easier access to post-secondary students. From here on, we are going to have access to those students, take them out for supper and hear their perspective and what their interests are. We have approximately 1,450 students who are accessing student financial assistance. Obviously, we want to see that number increase as well. We have made some changes so we can have access to those individual students so we know where they have job opportunities. Those are some remarks that were addressed to my attention. Mahsi.