Okay. Yes, thank you. Yesterday Minister said mental health workers are all in school, so I just wanted to ask the Minister. They make -- who -- is this funded by ECE only and/or through health and social services? Thank you.

Thank you. I will go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So 55 percent of the school-based mental health and wellness program is funded by ECE, and 45 percent of it is funded by health and social services. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. I will go back to the Member from Monfwi.

Thank you. These are mental health workers. We know that it's really greatly needed. And at one time, we had a lot of mental health workers. And I know some of them took courses to get into that field, and especially in small communities. And it's kind of sad because when we were still there, there was a lot of good mental health workers, community mental health workers where some of them took early retirement because they were laying off people due to education level. They were looking for people with Master's in mental health. They were looking for doctors. And since that time, did the qualification change for these mental health workers?

Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So the counsellors that health and social services hires typically are people with a Master's degree, and then the funding through education, culture and employment gives education bodies a lot more flexibility into what they use the funding for as long as there is a prevention aspect to it but allows them to use the funding, for example, for additional clinicians, for personal support workers, for community support workers. And so it allows them the flexibility to determine how they want to use the funding to address the mental health needs of their specific education body and their students in their schools. Thank you.

Thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.

Thank you. I know it -- you know, I understand about the level of education but at that time, there was a lot of the mental health workers that were in the school. A lot of young people identify with them, or both, vice versa. So it worked at that time. And I just wanted to ask the Minister, since that time is there any improvements? Thank you.

Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, through the reports of the business plan, we know that there are hundreds of contacts between mental health workers that are funded through this program and students, and so I would say that any time a student has access to the support that they deem that they need, it would be certainly a success to ensure that we're supporting students when and where they need it. Thank you.

Thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.

Thank you. Thank you for that information. Another one too is a modernization of Education Act. We haven't heard anything about this, modernizing the Education Act. Is there a report, or can the Minister update us on it and where it's at? Thank you.

Thank you. I will go to the Minister. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this work continues, and I'd like to pass to the deputy minister to provide the granular detail on that. Thank you.

Thank you. I will go to the deputy minister.

Okay, thank you. I will go to the Member from Monfwi.

Thank you. Okay, the Aurora College budget from last fiscal year to this current fiscal year kind of went down a bit, and it's probably related to the CLC and the closure of the CLC in many of the small communities. So I know that -- well, we've been talking about a lot of other programs before. And with the mine closing, you know, the only secure job that's going to be available in many of the small communities is a government job like social services, health and social services, and teachers and, you know, the people that are employed by the GNWT. That are going to be the only secure jobs that's going to be available in many of the small communities. So I just wanted to ask the Minister if there is any plan in place for more community-based training or program delivered in small communities. I -- you know, like, I mean, I don't see it anywhere in the report -- not in this report but in a college one too as well regarding teacher education program and social work program if it's going to be coming back or not. Many other young -- our people took those programs, and they're teachers. Some of them are retired now. So I just wanted to ask the Minister if there's going to -- if there is any plan in place to offer more community-based training in small communities. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, it is in the planning cycle of Aurora College to bring back the Bachelor of Education as well as the social work program to Aurora College in the fall of 2027. They rolled out their general education degree last fall in order to -- where people start with the general education and then in year 3 and 4 have the opportunity to choose either one of the other programs to transition into. So the work that they're doing right now with the college is they're able to specialize in one of those programs when it becomes available. And the intention of Aurora College is to make sure that they are supporting students to do kind of a blended or a hybrid model where they want to be able to have students across the territory access these programs online as well, or a portion of them, depending on if there's a practical component or not as well. Thank you.

Thank you. I will go to the Member for Monfwi.

Okay. So when this happened in 2027, so where -- so how -- which campuses are going to be offering these programs? There's Fort Smith, and there's Yellowknife. In Fort Smith, I know there's a lot of accommodation to accommodate. They have the facility. But in Yellowknife, there's limited accommodation so -- and I strongly believe students should be given a choice, and I do believe in the community-based training. So will some of these communities be delivering, or will they be reaching out to the communities to deliver -- do a community-based training, especially for teacher education program and for social work program? Thank you.

Okay, thank you. I will go to the Minister.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I don't have that level of detail yet or those decisions from the Aurora College board of governors, but as soon as that information is shared with me, I'd be more than happy when appropriate to share it with Members of AOC as well. Thank you.