Jr kindergarten 18th assembly's call
Work during this term all for naught, says outgoing MLA
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Everything members of the 17th Legislative Assembly did to learn about junior kindergarten is going to waste, according to the outgoing Frame Lake MLA.
Wendy Bisaro said MLAs were promised a look at a report detailing the findings of the junior kindergarten review - scheduled to have been completed in July - but in the final meetings of the last assembly they learned the report isn't ready yet and will ultimately be viewed by the 18th assembly. Bisaro said she's disappointed sitting MLAs who have worked hard throughout their term considering schooling for children under four years of age will not get the chance to see the report they were promised.
On Oct. 6 Bisaro asked why she hasn't seen the report yet.
"The junior kindergarten review was to be in done in July of 2015, and at the time of the announcement, I thought it was an ambitious timeline," Bisaro said to the assembly. "When July came and went and there was no indication to either committee or regular members that a report was coming, I wasn't surprised. I heard rumours suggesting the report might be done by the end of August, then the end of September. Well, we're into October now and still no sign that a junior kindergarten report is on the horizon."
Junior kindergarten appeared on the Legislative Assembly's radar in 2014 with a plan to roll-out schooling for children under four-years-old. The programming rolled out in Yellowknife but funding for it was put on hold pending the review that was scheduled to be completed in July. Some communities rejected the program altogether, while school boards like Yellowknife Education District 1 (Yk1) and Yellowknife Catholic Schools approved of the programming and began offering it as a user-pay system. Yk1 Chair John Stephenson has told Yellowknifer the school board thinks junior kindergarten is a good idea but it feels new programming proposed by the GNWT should be backed with new funding.
On Nov. 4, Bisaro said Jackson Lafferty's answer - which came after he'd spoken to a number of other issues - was the report isn't ready yet and will ultimately be the responsibility of the next government.
"Obviously, the expected report is not going to have any impact on junior kindergarten operations for this school year," Bisaro said on Oct. 6. "Obviously, there's not going to be an opportunity for this Assembly to see the report and comment on it before the 2015 election, and that's too bad. The 17th assembly standing committee on social programs and several other members invested considerable time, effort, thought and advice to government on the subject of junior kindergarten. All that experience will now be lost when it comes time to review the promised Junior Kindergarten review report, if it ever comes."
Another outgoing MLA, Weledeh's Bob Bromley, said Lafferty backed away from the July finish date during the final days of the 17th assembly.
"The minister was sort of backing off saying it wasn't supposed to be done," he said. "They were making progress and it would be presented to the 18th assembly."
Tami Johnson, spokesperson for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, did not respond when asked when the report might be released.
In an e-mail, she stated, "a comprehensive review of the program began in January 2015 and will be completed in July 2015 for review by the 18th Legislative Assembly."
