Education Act could change by May
MLAs to consult with residents next month on bill to reduce class time
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The MLA leading a review of a bill to reduce class time across the NWT says legislative changes will likely come this spring in order to kick off a three-year pilot project between the GNWT and teachers' association.
"The bill will be either passed or not passed ... at the end of May or beginning of June," said Nahendeh MLA Shane Thompson, who is also chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development.
That's when MLAs head back to the assembly after the latest budget session that ended March 10.
"We'll have a report that we'll be submitting to the Committee of the Whole," said Thompson.
After that point, "it will go onto the floor for a vote," he said.
Yellowknife school boards have already set the ball rolling to reduce class hours at local schools next year. The Catholic and public districts both finalized their 2017-18 calendars last week.
But that's just one piece of the puzzle that needs to be in place before the pilot can get going.
MLAs must also pass Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Education Act, which is currently under review by the standing committee.
If passed, the bill will set the minimum hours of instruction time for students in Grades 1 through 12 to 945 a year. Current legislation requires at least 1,045 hours of class time for students in Grades 7 to 12 and 997 hours for students in Grades 1 to 6.
Bill 16 would also reduce the required age for kindergarten students from five-years old to four, in order to make way for the territory-wide implementation of junior kindergarten this fall.
"We have 120 days to do our consultations out with people in the communities," said Thompson, which brings the committee's deadline to early June.
The committee is scheduled to meet with residents in Yellowknife, Inuvik and Hay River from April 7 to 12 to get their feedback on the proposed changes.
After that point, the committee will prepare a report on its review and can recommend changes to the Committee of the Whole, which includes all members of the legislative assembly.
All MLAs can then vote on proposed changes before the bill has a third and final reading in the house.
"There's some pros and cons (to the bill) and we've addressed that with the minister in numerous correspondence and face-to-face," said Thompson.
On a Feb. 21 standing committee briefing, MLAs questioned the education department's motives for the pilot, asking whether it was really about improving student outcomes.
Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green said she was unimpressed with the lack of consultation MLAs received on the GNWT's collective agreement with the teachers' association, given the pilot program could backfire if MLAs don't make the necessary legislative change before the new school year.
The Yellowknife public meeting will be April 7 at the legislative assembly.
"Anybody who is not able to attend those three locations is able to submit a written submission to us," Thompson said. "We're trying to hear the concerns they have."
