Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Baker Lake (Oct 03/01) - School administrators across the Kivalliq will be putting in a little extra time this semester.

The 11 Kivalliq schools will be part of a Nunavut-wide effort to update student files and bring them into line with Nunavut student record regulations.

Chris Purse, executive director for Kivalliq School Services, says the files are a going to be a major project for staff in Kivalliq schools this year.

"This is especially true for schools with senior high grades, because those students have quite voluminous records, having been in school for many years," says Purse.

Part of the process will involve going through each student's file to ensure they contain the proper elements.

Purse says the records will be mostly academic, with some behaviourial aspects included.

"There's a limit to how long things can remain in a student's record and we're learning the new regulations," he says. "The overall objective is to have the whole territory on the same page and we anticipate that will happen by the end of the school year."

Purse says teachers will also focus on continuing the trend of the higher numbers of graduates the region has seen during the past few years.

He says a problem has been identified with students who are only one or two courses away from their Grade 12 diploma.

"For whatever reasons, that last course is proving itself very difficult to obtain. It's difficult to be a part-time student for just one course. We need to look at alternative methods to deal with that."

Purse says the challenge facing administrators is to address the needs of students while, at the same time, ensure academic standards are not lowered.

That, he says, is the main reason why Nunavut schools are still grounded in Alberta, where there is a standard to meet.

"We're looking at a curriculum strategy for Nunavut, but that hasn't been decided upon yet, so we still don't know what's going to happen in the long-term.

"Being partnered with a jurisdiction large enough to do a comprehensive evaluation is still the best model for us."