Families displaced by NWT wildfires may not be sending children to school come Aug. 31.
John MacDonald, deputy minister of Education, Culture and Employment, acknowledged the potential for a delayed start to the school year as the crisis evolves in the North Slave, South Slave and parts of the Dehcho region. However, he poured cold water on the possibility of distance learning.
”The circumstances are vastly different from when we were dealing with Covid-19,” MacDonald said during an Aug. 21 news conference. “Virtual learning is not a feasible solution at this time.
“From an education perspective, the path forward will be really dependent on the emergency response.”
Each individual school board will be responsible for determining when the school year is safe to begin. Communities not under evacuation order will open schools on Aug. 31, as scheduled, unless their school board decides otherwise.
Email ecepublicaffairs@gov.nt.ca if you have any questions.
Student financial assistance
Adult students in need of funding to begin or continue their post-secondary education are being asked to be patient as their paperwork is being processed remotely.
Students who are evacuated will not need to sign their loan agreement to receive their September payments. However, once the evacuation order is lifted, the loan agreement will need to be signed for payments to continue.
Students are asked to email nwtsfa@gov.nt.ca or fax 1-800-661-0893 with the following information:
-Form D – student enrolment form
-Form E — payment and financial transaction authorization form (if a new student or banking information has changed)
-An official copy of your transcript (unofficial copies will be accepted at this time)