Frustration over less class time
Education Act will need to be changed before September; Parent wonders why public wasn't consulted
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Friday, February 3, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
One Yellowknife parent is concerned about the "ad hoc" rollout of a three-year pilot program to reduce NWT class time by up to 100 hours a year starting next fall.
Tracy Williams' three boys are students in Yellowknife. She said she is concerned there is no clear "vision" for education in the territory, including for a new pilot program to reduce teaching hours at schools across the territory. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo |
The Northwest Territories Teachers' Association (NWTTA) and Department of Education, Culture and Employment announced the project last week.
Tracy Williams has three sons - two in kindergarten and one in Grade 5. She said there needs to be a better plan for the program - one that thoughtfully engages parents.
"I'm concerned about the rollout being ad hoc as to have that decision be solely made by the people in Trout Lake, by the people in Lutsel K'e, by the people in Yellowknife, by the people in Aklavik," said Williams. "We need a more overarching vision in order to ensure that the quality of education that people will receive will have some kind of standard."
On Jan. 23, the teachers' association, Department of Education, Culture and Employment and other educational representatives announced a pilot program would begin next school year to reduce class time for students in Grades 1 through 12 by up to 100 hours a year. The program was agreed to in the NWTTA's collective agreements with the GNWT and Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1), with the goal to reduce teacher workload while improving students' quality of education.
It will affect public schools and schools across the communities. Yellowknife's Catholic board is still in collective bargaining negotiations.
The program will be optional, giving schools the ability to decide how much time they want to shave off the year. Current legislation states NWT students in Grades 7 through 12 must spend at least 1,045 hours in class a year, while students in Grades 1 through 6 must be in school at least 997 hours a year.
The pilot program would allow schools to reduce that number to 945 for Grades 1 through 12, said NWTTA executive director Adrien Amirault. He added most high schools in the NWT are currently above the legislated minimum of 1,045 hours of instruction per year.
But any reduction in class hours would require an amendment to the Education Act, according to cabinet spokesperson Andrew Livingstone. A bill would need to be introduced in the legislative assembly and studied by a committee of MLAs before it could be passed.
Williams said the process is a lot to ask before September.
"I find that to be asking a lot of teachers, parents and principals to do that thoughtfully," she said, adding many parents heard about the pilot program for the first time at school town hall meetings last week.
Similarly, MLAs said they only heard about the pilot program through a news release last week.
Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart said while it's an agreement between the teachers' union and school boards, "that doesn't mean you shouldn't let us know."
Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne said he also heard about it for the first time last week.
He added he hasn't been provided a detailed briefing on the pilot program yet, so it wouldn't be fair for him to take a position knowing it was part of a negotiated process.
Yellowknifer spoke to Education Minister Alfred Moses on Monday to ask whether parents or MLAs were consulted about the pilot program.
"Really the MOU is with the teachers," Moses said. "We just encourage parents to contact the superintendents of the schools."
Moses emphasized the program is optional, adding he believes some of parents' worries stem from not understanding it is not mandatory for schools to cut 100 hours.
When asked whether the pilot program would indeed require an amendment to the Education Act to reduce class hours, Moses was unable to answer the question, asking to refer it to another department.
Williams told Yellowknifer she was asked by CBC to speak on a panel about the program this week, but declined because she wanted the department to provide its plan for the program. The panel ran on Monday's Trailbreaker show with deputy education minister Rita Mueller, Tlicho Community Services Agency director of K-12 education Shannon Barnett-Aikman, NWTTA president Fraser Oliver and Yk1 superintendent Metro Huculak.
She said she was later told government representatives refused to be on the panel if a parent would be on it with them, as it could be too "emotional" for them, she said.
"This is why people tend to get an idea that ... either there is no vision or parents are being looked at as something to be managed, rather than thoughtfully engaged with," Williams said.
"This is how you erode public trust."
CBC reporter Richard Gleeson, who organized the panel, confirmed Williams' account.
