Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, like speakers previous, I want to commend the Standing Committee on Social Development for their extensive work on this bill and thank them for taking this legislation on the road to seek very important input from the public. I also want to acknowledge the many residents of Yellowknife North, in particular parents, that took the time to share their views and opinions with me over the past couple of months. I also want to thank the many teachers, many of them from Yellowknife North, who wrote to me sharing their work experience and perspective on Bill 16. I would be remiss if I didn't thank the Minister and his staff for attending my recent Yellowknife North constituency meeting, as well as representatives from the NWT Teachers' Association for coming and sharing valuable information so constituents could be better informed on this matter. Lastly, I want to thank Yellowknife school districts and their boards for their valuable insight, as well.
Mr. Chair, one of the most important jobs we have as a government is the education of our youth. Our education system is where we place our trust to raise healthy, well-adjusted, capable children, ready to take on the world and become integral contributors to society. It is a sacred duty we have to the children and families of the Northwest Territories and, indeed, our future. As an advocate for education, I am also a staunch supporter of teachers, and therefore I am strongly in support of the Strengthening Teacher Instructional Practices, or STIP, program. We have bestowed a great many responsibilities on our teachers over the years, and we have high expectations of them, and those responsibilities and expectations never cease. In fact, they continually grow.
While the STIP program does reduce the minimum required classroom hours, this does not mean teachers would get more time away from work. Instead, STIP refocuses teachers' hours and school resources to provide enhanced support for teachers and more dedicated time for non-instructional responsibilities. Under the STIP program, they will have more time for planning, strengthening and improving their skills, and professional collaboration and development. They will be able to form and participate in professional learning communities to build on experience and shared knowledge. Emphasizing these things will result in better quality education for our kids. Teachers will be at less risk of high stress, unmanageable workloads, and burnout. As has been said many times in this discussion, teachers who carry an unreasonable workload and can't manage a healthy work-life balance won't be good resources for our kids in the long term.
We know teacher absenteeism and high turnover have been a major concern over the years. I believe we must remain committed to education renewal, in which we have clearly stated that the teacher-student relationship will be positive and healthy while maintaining a safe learning environment. Mr. Chair, as a child, I was challenged with a learning disability, dyslexia. I believe that, as a youth facing this challenge, my time with teachers was better served through quality time and not necessarily a large quantity of time. I would emphasize in this context that Bill 16 permits a reduction in the minimum hours of classroom time, but teachers, administration, and boards will have the discretion to exceed that minimum to provide students with the support they deem necessary.
As has been articulated by many, we must support our teachers, and I believe that to be true if we want to see results. Teachers have the most profound influence on the educational success enjoyed by children. I want to state clearly that I am committed not only to the betterment of education but also to the ongoing development, skill, and proficiency of teachers. By supporting our teachers, we will ultimately be offering the most support and benefit to the ongoing success and wellbeing of our children. We should emphasize, as the Minister noted in his comments earlier, that the Minister has made a commitment to provide a monitoring, evaluation, and accountability plan to the Standing Committee on Social Development before the end of this school year.
The other important element of Bill 16 is the introduction of junior kindergarten. The government has committed to fully funding junior kindergarten, and this is a positive step forward. The Minister's commitment to maintain a pupil-to-teacher ratio of 12 to 1 or better is also significant. These achievements are to be commended. However, to be clear, Members have wrestled with the question of what "full funding" truly means. The department has acknowledged that its funding formulas determine the allocations, but not those allocations adequately. To implement junior kindergarten, funding for inclusive schooling will need to be stretched over an additional grade. The Standing Committee's report indicates that territorial board chairs have already flagged funding as inadequate and in continued decline. These chairs called for funding to be restored to 2012 levels.
We also need to make sure that the transportation requirements of JK are adequately funded. The Minister has made the commitment to monitor the transportation costs and seek additional funding if necessary. I think it's important that we commit full funding to all aspects of JK. To that end, if necessary, I will be seeking to confirm adequate funding in the forthcoming 2017-2018 budget deliberations. In conclusion, Mr. Chair, the education of our young people is a crucial and sacred job. Central to our goal of creating a stable, healthy, and prosperous future for all our citizens, support for our teachers in whom we placed our trust for that mission is an essential part of achieving that goal. Just lastly, Mr. Chair, before final support, I look forward to considering my colleague's amendments and those are my general comments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.