Education Act changes 'window dressing': Kotierk
NTI president critical as amendments get first reading
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Monday, March 13, 2017
NUNAVUT
Amendments to the Education Act passedfirst reading in the legislative assembly March 8. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) is not impressed with the changes.
The amendments include improving inclusion, local control, and Inuit-language instruction.
But the newly-tabled Education Act and Inuit Language Protection Act amendments will not solve the current crisis in the education system, NTI president stated in a March 9 news release.
"The proposed amendments are window dressing at best and reduce the right to Inuktut language of instruction. The proposed changes appear to offer district education authorities (DEAs) a choice of instituting Inuktut language of instruction in schools, but without significantly increasing Inuktut-speaking teachers, DEAs (district education authorities) will not be able to offer this choice to students," she stated.
"The Inuit self-determination that is promised in our Nunavut Agreement will only be realized when Inuit children are taught in Inuktut and graduate from high school."
Education assistant deputy minister John MacDonald says the department is working on it.
"One of our primary concerns based on experience in trying to implement bilingual education and increase the amount of Inuktitut being spoken and taught in schools is that the existing language of instruction models that we have are not being supported due to the lack of certified, qualified bilingual educators," MacDonald said.
"They're not sustainable or supportable models. So that's one of the pieces we're trying to address with the amendments."
MacDonald admits the department has to do a better job of recruiting, retaining and supporting Inuit educators.
"But the reality is we need time to do that. The current implementation deadline - and we've been saying this for some time and the OAG audit has supported that as well - we're having trouble implementing. Things are taking more time than anybody ever really imagined it would. Setting unrealistic deadlines does not help meet the needs of students."
The proposed amendment as related to bilingual education gives the GN more time for implementation - until the 2029-2030 school year for Grades 4 to 9. As for Grades 10 to 12, according to the amendment, "the Minister shall monitor the teaching capacity in Nunavut that is able, available and willing to provide the bilingual education program."
The 2008 version of the Education Act requires a bilingual education - an Inuit language and either English or French - for all students by the 2019-20 school year.
Changes to the Inuit Language Protection Act are also proposed to reflect that change in deadline.
"We need those extended so we can continue developing materials, so we can work on a new Inuit employment plan, and set some targets and programs and things in place to help increase the number of Inuktut-speaking educators in our system to support these models," said MacDonald.
"At the end of the day, what we want is a graduate coming out of Grade 12 with a Nunavut high-school diploma functionally literate in English and Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun, or English and French if that's the decision of a community."
