NUNAVUT

A program aimed at introducing high school students to possible future careers might encounter difficulties when implemented as some schools are too small to offer all six choices, said the Nunavut Teachers' Association president.

Under the program, Grade 9 students would choose one of six options: trades and engineering, community caregiving and family studies, fine arts and crafts, information technology and communication/media, entrepreneurship and small business studies, or history, heritage and culture.

Out of the 100 credits students need to obtain their Nunavut Secondary School Graduation Diploma, secondary school program co-ordinator Sue Ball estimates an option will encompass 20 credits or four courses. The bulk of the courses will be at the Grade 11 and 12 levels.

"If a student chooses an option, they are also choosing a pathway and they have an idea of what it is they want to do after Grade 12," she said.

Nunavut Teachers' Association president Robin Langill said the multiple options program, set to roll out in the territory in the 2012-13 school year, is a positive thing but concerns exist.

Langill said the program will address the territory's demand for trades-oriented skills and interest more students at the secondary level.

"It may make education more meaningful for students and help them to focus on the future," he said. "If more students are engaged, attendance rates at the secondary level should increase. Also, if they are engaged, it will help the graduation rates by keeping students in school at the secondary level."

But some schools don't have the resources to provide all the options, meaning they might opt to offer a limited number of choices, said Langill.

"Many schools are going to lack the human resources to provide the options," he said. "Even some of our larger high schools in Nunavut may have difficulty in providing all six of these options."

Grades 7 and 8 students will be introduced to the program through a pamphlet but won't make a choice before they reach Grade 9, with the opportunity to change their minds before Grade 11, added Ball.

The new program was developed following a number of community consultations in 2003, with the report giving the department the guidance to move on with program, said Ball. She added they want the options to offer practical learning experience for the students.

"In the feedback we got from students, they wanted more courses related to their culture and language, they wanted more hands-on courses, they wanted more say in their course choices," she said. "Overall, we want the options to help students to stay in school and to graduate successfully."

Langill said many teachers think the program is a step in the right direction but there will be problems implementing it.

"It's not a matter of whether we want to make it work or not. This is a reality that's going to happen. In the end, it's all about the students," he said. "They're (territorial government) working on trying to engage students at the secondary level to keep them in school and to give them something that may be more meaningful to them, so that when they're done school, they're prepared to go on to something."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.