Coppermine (May 12/03) - Kugluktuk educators are condemning the Nunavut government for its decision to cut up to three high school teaching positions next year.

"We need to keep Grade 12 classes going in our school," said Alex Buchan, chair of the Kugluktuk District Education Authority (KDEA).

"If we lose these teachers, it's going to be more and more difficult to have a good Grade 12 program."

On average, only five or seven students in the community out of 30 complete high school each year, said Buchan.

Another potential loss would be the school's athletics association. KDEA say this program is helping build attendance at the school. Buchan said if the school loses the three teaching positions,the program will be in danger.

"We need to make it worthwhile for the kids to stay in school.

This program has been successful in doing that," he explained.

Buchan said the education authority wrote Nunavut's Education Minister a letter a month ago outlining their concerns but so far haven't received a response.

"We're just going to shoot ourselves in the foot if we don't concentrate on educating our children," said Buchan.

There are around 240 students at the Jimmy Hikok Elementary school with 12 teachers and there are 150 students at Kugluktuk high school with nine teachers.

The KDEA said it can't afford to lose any of the school's staff in they want to continue providing students with a good education.

Deputy Minister of Education Pam Hine said the decision to cut teachers in Kugluktuk is simple mathematics.

The number of teachers allocated to a specific community is based on a funding formula and on the number of students enrolled in a school.

"There may be some trade-offs if some communities have been under funded.

In Kugluktuk's case, they may have more teachers then what the funding formula entitles them to," said Hine.

She added that the department is currently looking for alternative funding sources to cover all teaching positions in the territory.