I wish a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you all. May the Lord keep you well and happy in the New Year. I am told this is my last column until 2018 – I will see you in January.
I am trying to be positive and cheerful heading into the next year. Well, people are looking forward to the ice roads opening soon and to travelling to our five towns in the Sahtu region. You can look at the bulletin board in the Northern store and find all kinds of things for sale to accommodate the visitors from the outlaying towns. The people are trying to make some money. I wish them well.
It is very tough to try and remain positive when you are in isolation as we are in the Sahtu. Just put yourselves in our shoes if you do not live in isolation. We have been waiting since 1960 for a road to liberate us.
People seem to be putting on their thinking caps – mostly for thoughts for the coming year. It will be 2018 in a few weeks. What’s our plan for the coming year? I know I’m not going to give up on the highway!
We have some very serious problems at the grassroots level and in education and the price of heating. I got my oil bill the other day for $900.00. I called the office and asked if it was for a month. They said, “No.” It was a little more than $900.00 and we have had the warmest and most beautiful fall weather. So – how much more is it going to cost me in January and February? It is time to invest in wood stoves.
I am enclosing a report from a very disappointed mother about the ongoing education concerns and issues in the Sahtu. It is important for everyone to take notice and ask questions of the government.
The first semester of college/university courses are almost over and I wonder if the Government of the Northwest Territories are keeping track of the statistics on the success of our Sahtu students in Southern institutions. I am aware some of our students who have attempted to continue on with their education down south within the last 4-5 years and have returned home during or after the first semester defeated and discouraged.
The main reason being they did not have the basic requirements for the program they are attempting and could not continue on with their studies. They are advised to withdraw and get the upgrading that is required. Now this is after they receive a Grade 12 diploma from their high school. Note that the Alberta curriculum is being followed by the NWT education system. So, what does this diploma actually mean for our students?
We have heard this over and over again that the education system is failing our students heading south. But, what are our educators and politicians doing about this? A lot of talk, but, obviously nothing, to solve this issue as it continues with each graduating class in the Sahtu.
How are we expected to have professional positions filled with our own Northerners when our students are faced with this?
Does the GNWT, whether it’s the Department of Education or the Sahtu Board of Education, conduct exit interviews with the students who are dropping out and withdrawing from their programs? Who has the responsibility to find out why this is happening to so many students? Are they even interested in why this continues? They are pretty clear on the expectations of payback of SFA funds, but short of that, there is no communication with them.
What are the options the students have in regards to actually upgrading back in their own communities? Who has the responsibility to take this on? Perhaps a year in Aurora College doing an upgrade after they receive their high school diploma is something to consider and which may put them in a better position to succeed.
It would also be a worthwhile venture for the GNWT and the Sahtu Board of Education to hold roundtable discussions with the students who have withdrawn from their programs and to find out why this is such an issue and to hear from the students themselves. If they start with the number of graduates from each community and how many are now back in their communities, still feeling defeated and discouraged. There could very well be some. Recommendations that could come out of these discussions would then enable our students to succeed and return to the North with diplomas and an education for the jobs for which we are currently importing people from the south.
Thank you concerned mother for bringing this issue to our attention. Parents in the whole of the NWT had better make 2018 the year for a “wake-up call” for the territories and for a serious look at the education system and why there are so many graduates advised to return home and upgrade. I will keep following up on this letter and on education in the North.
Time is catching up, I must run. Have a good holiday with lots of love and happiness.