Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
A concerned NWT resident says his girlfriend's daughter is keeping her seven-year-old out of the school system for weeks at a time and no one seems to be able to do anything to intervene.

Angela James, director for early childhood and school services, said the Aboriginal School Achievement Initiative in 2010 received funding specifically for attendance plan development. - NNSL file photo

"I've been talking to social services," said the resident, who asked to remain anonymous. "This has been an on-going thing ... but I can't do anything because I'm not a blood relative."

Damien Healy, manager of communications for the Department of Health and Social Services, stated in an e-mail that truancy is not something social services deals with directly.

"We are not involved in truancy issues," stated Healy. "If we have a child in care and truancy issues are brought to the attention of a case worker or Child and Family Services, we would followup and seek remedy. We don't proactively check on truancy."

The resident, who said the girl has missed more than five weeks of school, said he's not blaming social services but got the impression that the current system doesn't give social workers enough authority to get involved in a situation such as this one.

"It's the system they've got," he said. "It's got no teeth. The social worker I was talking to was helpful. Where she could do something, she did.

"There's nothing they can do unless there is an intervention, unless something criminal or tragic happens."

The resident hopes that changes won't have to wait until after something worse happens to the child, and said he would describe the situation as criminal.

"She's been put back in Grade 1," he said. "She'll be eight years old and still in Grade 1," he said, "And it's not by any doing of hers she's a smart girl. If she can't go to school, she can't learn anything."

Angela James, director for early childhood and school services for Department of Education, Culture and Employment, said truancy is a significant problem in NWT schools, as well as in schools across the country. She said the Aboriginal School Achievement Initiative in 2010 received funding specifically for attendance plan development in order to encourage schools to develop attendance plans that work with their individual region's needs.

"The variety in attendance plans is as varied as our schools are," James said. She also said one of the most significant ways educators and school leaders can fix the truancy problem is by building strong relationships with the communities they work in.

"It's important to develop a positive and proactive attitude," said James. "Educators and school leaders need open communication between the home and school."

In terms of formalized legislation, James said it already exists in the Education Act, though it's rarely used. It states parents who are not demonstrating commitment to sending their children to school, as determined by requirements laid out in the act, are liable to a fine not exceeding $500.

James said the fine is hardly a solution as it does not foster any kind of trust or relationship development between the education system and families.

The NWT resident said even if the fine were applied, it's not going to have the effect he's looking for.

"That's taking the problem and putting in on another level entirely," he said. "If there are no checks and balances, people who don't care won't start to care."

He would like to see a more communicative relationship between the schools and community social workers.

"There should be a system where someone sees she's not in school, they notify the principal, who notifies social services, who then gets involved with the family," he said.

As is, the resident doesn't think the school in his step-granddaughter's community has done enough to reach out to her or her family.

"All they did was send one letter," he said. "This is a small town, it's not like they don't know where she lives ... It's like they were saying, 'we sent one letter what more do you want us to do?' That doesn't make sense to me."

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