DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
As the GNWT's junior kindergarten program returns to Fort Providence, the education minister is trying to quell fears it will interfere financially with Aboriginal Head Start.

Students from Fort Providence's Aboriginal Head Start program get messy during an end-of-year ceremony for the program in June. - photo courtesy of the NWT Literacy Council

"I'm not sure what else we can do with them to let them know that when we roll out junior kindergarten, their program is not going to be affected," said Alfred Moses.

Joyce McLeod, who oversees the Aboriginal Head Start program, had previously voiced concerns that would not be the case.

"If (the department) implements (junior kindergarten) in Fort Providence, all of (the GNWT's) invested dollars are going to go down the drain, simple as that," McLeod stated in an e-mail.

Junior kindergarten has had a rocky relationship with Fort Providence since it first began during the 2014-15 school year. In December 2014, the Fort Providence District Education Authority opted to discontinue junior kindergarten.

The program will now be returning to Fort Providence in the 2017-18 school year.

McLeod stated she and other members of the program have asked the government not to roll out junior kindergarten to communities that have Aboriginal Head Start.

"Junior kindergarten is not needed in Fort Providence. We need more Aboriginal Head Start programs in communities (that) do not have (it)," she wrote.

"My message is . do not duplicate the existing Aboriginal Head Start programs."

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment met with the Western Arctic Aboriginal Head Start Council to discuss the effects junior kindergarten may have on the Aboriginal Head Start Program.

Moses said the department would continue to make sure the program's leaders are up to date on the department's plans for junior kindergarten.

Additionally, he said, junior kindergarten is an optional program for parents, meaning parents who want their child to attend Aboriginal Head Start have no obligation to also involve their child in junior kindergarten.

While he has said the department has worked to address all the concerns expressed, Moses has also said the ability to bring junior kindergarten to some communities but not others that already have Aboriginal Head Start is simply not an option.

"I do have the mandate to provide quality and accessible education for all children in the Northwest Territories. We can't just pick and choose which communities get which programs," he said.

"We can't exclude any communities and schools (from) this program."

Moses added the department will be meeting with superintendents on Nov. 24 and board chairs on Dec. 2 to further expand on the department's plan for junior kindergarten.

Aboriginal Head Start is funded by Health Canada and also receives some funding from the territorial government.

Junior kindergarten is targeted toward four-year-olds, while Aboriginal Head Start provides programming for children between the ages of three and five.

Aboriginal Head Start has been running in Fort Providence for approximately 20 years. It also runs in seven other communities in the Northwest Territories.

Information on Aboriginal Head Start's budget and funding was not available at press time.

Dehcho Divisional Education Council superintendent Terry Jaffray could not grant an interview by press time, saying the school divisions have not yet received details of how the program will be rolled out.

Deh Cho MLA Michael Nadli addressed the prospect of junior kindergarten in the legislative assembly on Oct. 26, during discussion on a motion to ask the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to produce a plan to implement junior kindergarten as well as a budget, among other things.

"There has been, for some time, an adversarial approach in terms of (junior kindergarten) versus Aboriginal Head Start program. We need to get beyond that," Nadli said, according to Hansard documents.

"I believe that (junior kindergarten) and the Aboriginal Head Start program could co-exist and work in parallel."

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