Rankin Inlet (May 17/06) - A series of meetings were held in Rankin Inlet earlier this month to look at how the three schools in the community may be improved.

In addition to school staff members, the meetings were attended by student, elder and parent representatives.

Rosemary Sandy, centre, helps Lester Kanayok and Caryn Angidlik with their traditional skills during cultural inclusion programming at Leo Ussak elementary school in Rankin Inlet. The local district education authority wants to see more Inuktitut and traditional learning in all three Rankin schools. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

The meetings were part of school-improvement planning, an initiative being spearheaded across Nunavut by the Department of Education.

District Education Authority (DEA) chairperson Darrin Nichol said the DEA wants to see more consistency in the hamlet's three schools so they're not operating in isolation of each other.

He said school-improvement planning will be a perpetual initiative carried on from year to year.

"Right now, we're trying to define the purpose of education in Rankin Inlet," Nichol said. "That will include implementing a mission statement and local policy to shape the direction of education as we move forward.

"We don't have one overarching mission statement that governs the delivery of education in all three schools."

Information-gathering initiatives were undertaken before the meetings, including consulting with elders, and surveying students, parents and businesses in regards to the local delivery of education.

Nichol said the initial meetings identified the primary challenges facing education in Rankin. He said topping the list is the need for more Inuktitut-speaking staff and increased resources to deliver a structured Inuktitut program.

"We also have a woeful lack of people and necessary resources to satisfy the requirements of special-needs children, especially at the elementary level. We want more transparency within our local education system, and to be able to break the misconception that schools can do it all.

"Some learning components require the support of the entire community."

Nichol said there are plenty of good things happening in education that are sometimes overlooked.

He said educators and support staff often tend to be too hard on themselves in Nunavut. "We have more Inuit professionals today than we've ever had.

"The real challenge is to build upon the positives within our education system.

"Yes, we need more Inuktitut, resources and traditional learning in our schools.

"But we also need people to be involved with education, because education is a community responsibility."