Iqaluit (Feb 02/04) - More than ever, students across the North are heading to colleges to further their education to find good jobs in the future.

Cipporah Peterloosie, a students in the nursing program at Arctic College, gets some hands-on practice. - Neils Christensen/NNSL photo

According to Nunavut's Arctic and NWT's Aurora colleges, there are currently a lot of hot jobs available in the Northern market.

Arctic College has seen an increase to its enrollment according to Susie Ishulutak, a counsellor at the school.

"People want to go back to school to get better jobs," she said.

Ishulutak said there is a huge variety of popular programs nowadays, and though every year is different, this year's favourites seem to office and business administration, nursing, teaching and early childhood education.

Ishulutak added more people are going to Arctic College to finish their high school as well as taking translating courses.

"There is a strong demand for interpreters because people want to preserve Inuktitut," she said.

Because the territory is still developing, she said people are needed in almost every sector from trades to office administrators.

"We're starting slowly but the demand is there," she said.

Eva Noah, an instructor in the teaching program, sees the need for more teachers in Nunavut.

"There is a demand for more Inuit teachers, especially in high school in the communities," she said.

This year more than 30 students are enrolled in the teaching program in Iqaluit. Another 30 students are enrolled in the college's centres across Nunavut.

"I think it should be easy for these students to find jobs when they graduate," she said.

Teachers aren't only needed in Nunavut but in NWT as well. And that need to the west is immediate, according to Bill Wade, chairperson of the education program at Aurora College.

"If you go into this program at Aurora you are going to get a job as a teacher," he said. "We've already placed four of our graduates in jobs."

Wade added it is difficult to attract students into the program because more people are opting for the higher paying jobs in the trades.

"We do compete with the trades, but what people get from this program is a career," he said.

Nursing is another area clamouring for more people, said Denise Bowen, chairperson for the health program. Every year it has managed to fill the 25 seats available and there is a very high employment rate for grads.

"There are always vacancies in the communities," she said.