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An alternative to dropping out Work-related learning plan allows students to work temporarily and keep studying
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Saturday, August 10, 2013
IQALUIT
A new program which allows high school students to leave school temporarily in order to work and support their family has been established but hasn't been used.
Youth study on what it means to be a good leader at the Nasivvik High School library in Pond Inlet during evening leadership discussions in March 2011. A new program supported by the Nunavut Department of Education helps high school students who want to take a temporary leave from school to work in order to support their family. - photo courtesy of Benny Sanguya
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The new regulations in the Nunavut Education Act are meant to curb the territorial drop-out rate, which remain the highest in Canada by a wide margin.
Meeka Qamaniq, principal at Nasivvik High School in Pond Inlet, said it's a great initiative for students who become parents or who need to help out financially at home.
"I think it would be best if more students and parents knew about it," she said.
"A lot of them don't know it exists. It would be nice if they could announce it on the radio again, to raise awareness for it."
Qamaniq gave the example of a Nasivvik student who became a father last spring, and who wanted to work for a brief period of time.
"I could have told him that he could apply for this," she said.
The changes to work-related learning plans – which temporarily excuse high school students with work duties from class – were solidified in law in June, said Bradley Archambault, a legislation analyst with the Policy and Planning Division of the Nunavut Department of Education.
"The authorization to develop work-related learning plans has been in the Education Act since 2009," he said. "However, specific details about the required contents of the plan and process to follow when developing the plan were only recently brought into force in June."
The plan is meant to be used in rare circumstances where a student would, for example, have to work in order to provide for dependents.
It would prevent students from having to choose between staying in school and dropping out, Archambault said.
It is not meant for students who work part-time outside of school.
The concept of work-related learning plans has been around for a few years. The department had been providing schools with interim templates they could use, based on the proposed content of the regulations, in the event a student would need to take advantage of the initiative.
No one has used it to date, Archambault said, and he added the department doesn't expect or encourage it to be used often.
"The idea here is that students would be excused for a set amount of time – three months, for example – and maintain engagement and communication with the school to discuss any possible learning objectives while on the job," he said.
"They could be in contact with a student support teacher to help minimize the learning curve and ease the transition of going back to school. It's only to be used for students with a very specific set of circumstances."
The school principal and in turn, the District Education Authority, would have to approve the matter before a student could take part in the work-related learning plan. A parent's consent would also be necessary.
Nunavut has the highest dropout rate for all the provinces and territories, at approximately 50 per cent, according to Statistics Canada numbers in 2010.
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