NUNAVUT
Concerns about social promotion, or passing students based on their age rather than their accomplishments, were raised at the legislature last week.
South Baffin MLA Fred Schell raised the issue on March 6, asking whether the Department of Education would reconsider the practice.
The practice of moving students from one grade to another regardless of whether they obtain a passing grade is a "great disservice" to the youth of this territory, said Schell. He added this is done from Grades 1 to 9.
"Far too many of our students hit the brick wall of departmental exams and don't make it over to the other side," he said on March 6. "Our education system, which includes the practice of continually progressing students all the way through Grade 9, leaves them abandoned without the necessary skills to make it through high school."
Premier and Education Minister Eva Aariak said although retention is suitable for some students, the department does not feel it should be a regular procedure.
She made the statement after Schell asked her the difference between "social promotion" and "continuous progression," with the latter term preferred with the department, according to him. She didn't address the terms in her response.
Schell said he has been approached by parents, the district education authority and students on the issue.
According to Schell, a teacher told him he had no choice but to move a couple of students to the next grade even though they attended school only 10 per cent of the time. The teacher, who had taught in a community for more than 16 years, didn't want to move the student forward but had to at the request of the district education authority.
Schell asked why social promotion is preferable to ensuring students have mastered the skills for each grade level before moving them up.
Aariak responded that attendance is a "very important factor" to successfully complete a grade.
"A student has to attend regularly so the lessons that a student is to learn are being learned," she said.
She later added her department is not dismissing any concerns parents are bringing forward.
Amittuq MLA Louis Tapardjuk added to the debate, asking how students "far below" their grade average were made to graduate.
"Shouldn't we ask why the administrators felt certain students' age was more important than their actual grade level in that it is only the administration's best interests and not the students?" asked Tapardjuk on March 6.
Aariak said teachers, student support teachers, some DEA members and the child's parents are involved to determine whether a child should advance or not.
