Inclusive Schooling

In 2016, ECE issued a Ministerial Directive on Inclusive Schooling. Its vision: To ensure access to quality education for all students by effectively meeting their diverse needs in a way that is responsive, accepting, respectful and supportive.

A key principle is that learning is individualized, meaning “education programs and decisions focus on the individual student's strengths and needs, and are based on the student's best interests.” It also means that students have access to education programs, and supports, in their home community.

The audit found ECE's 2015 action plan ambitious, and that the department did not have a way to track progress on implementing the plan. There were not enough efforts to track whether schools were creating, monitoring and updating individualized learning plans. The monitoring that did take place did not allow ECE to know whether students with individualized learning plans were receiving the supports they needed, nor whether there were improved outcomes.

Recommendation 4

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment conduct greater oversight on inclusive schooling practices, including through spot checks on individualized learning plans, and report annually on the outcome-oriented performance measures.

Schools in Small Communities

The audit confirmed that students in small communities are less likely to graduate from high school. Department information shows that graduation rates in small communities is less than 40 percent for Indigenous students. The committee supports the Northern Distance Learning Program, but is concerned with the finding that even students with a normally good rate of attendance could miss up to 30 percent of classes due to differences in school calendars.

Schools in small communities face numerous challenges, with multi-grade classrooms, limited opportunities for professional development, higher costs and the need for greater supports for teachers and principals.

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 5

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment bring forward a plan to better support schools in small communities, to ensure students across the territory have an equitable learning experience. The Committee further recommends that the department work with the District Education Authorities to minimize the impacts of differing school calendars on Northern Distance Learning.

I will now hand it over to the chair, MLA Martselos.