Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, teachers play a very vital role, a very vital, critical, and a very important role, in our communities as well as in our schools. Outside parents, they are the ones that spend the most time with our youth and help them develop, help them to learn. The work done to date between the Education, Culture and Employment, the NWT Teachers' Association, as well as NWT Superintendents' Association brought this forward. We need to listen to the needs and the supports of our teachers. We have to listen to their concerns.

In the meeting last week, I did mention to committee that I have also been attending these local receiving officer meetings, that this is also a big concern, and they represent all teachers in their regions. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the program as a the pilot rolls out, but this is something that the teachers' association that speaks on behalf of the teachers as well as our superintendents have brought forward, and we want to address some of the workload issues and some of the wellness issues of our teachers and how important they are to the development of our children as well as our education.