Derek Neary
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (Mar 05/99) - More funding, more human resources, a greater degree of cultural programming and improving the literacy rate.

Those items were among the primary concerns voiced at the minister's forum on education public meeting in Fort Simpson last Wednesday evening.

Members of the forum committee have been travelling around the NWT taking inventory of concerns, successes and recommendations to improve the education system in the North. This input, by way of a final report, will be considered by delegates representing communities, government and industry at a conference in Fort Smith Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment's Strategic Plan, which involves initiatives up to the year 2010, is under review because there have been a great number of changes in a short period of time, according to forum chair Robert Tordiff. He said some sort of "measurement tool" is needed to gauge how grade extensions, alterations to government structure and other changes have affected education since the Strategic Plan was introduced in 1993.

"The process we're in right now is to evaluate where we're at. Some of the needs are different now," said Tordiff.

Many of the needs expressed by the 30 people in attendance at Wednesday's meeting, most of whom were teachers, were similar to those heard in the 10 communities the forum had visited previously, Tordiff said. Funding and human resources in particular, are near the top of many priority lists.

Facilitator Chuck Parker noted that the territorial government has reduced spending by $120-150 million across the board over the past three-and-a-half years.

"We've certainly felt the effects of it," he said, adding that the public still maintains its high expectations of the education system.

The need for educators is growing, not only in the NWT but across much of Canada, according to Parker. At the same time, the benefits package for teachers in the North has become less competitive, he acknowledged.

"More and more people are being recruited out of our system," he said.

Nevertheless, there have been some promising signs in the North, he contended. Advances such as the Digital Communications Network are allowing for Internet access and e-mail capabilities in schools. Grade 10 is available to 99 per cent of children in the NWT and Grade 12 is accessible to 93 per cent, according to Parker. He said 84 per cent of school-aged youth now participate in school -- that number was closer to 50 per cent in the late 1980s. As well, the graduation rate has gone up roughly two per cent each year over the past three years, he said.

Yet, some the parents and educators at Wednesday's meeting questioned the value of a diploma from the NWT. The only Grade 12 level credit needed for a diploma is English 33. That's an inferior standard to those found in the south and often leads to a rude awakening for students who leave here for a post-secondary education, some parents suggested.

Among the positive items listed in Fort Simpson were: the Bompas school internal review, which included interviews with parents, community leaders and students; numerous travel opportunities, increasing cultural programming; a greater number of early childhood education initiatives; some staff staying long-term; a wider range of extracurricular activities for students.

Notes from Wednesday's meeting were taken by the committee and were to be made available to the public through the District Education Council sometime this week. Notes from the meeting in Fort Providence last Monday should be available through the local DEA as well.

Although Wednesday's forum focused mainly on issues from grades kindergarten through 12, next week's conference in Fort Smith is to also encompass post-secondary education, adult education, career development and student financial assistance.