YELLOWKNIFE (July 11, 2014) – In Charlottetown, PEI this week, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Jackson Lafferty presented a two-year strategy on national Aboriginal education to the Council of Ministers of Education (CMEC), to wide endorsement.

At the 2013 CMEC summit, Minister Lafferty was appointed CMEC Lead Minister on Aboriginal education to develop an Aboriginal education strategy that would lead the efforts of jurisdictions across Canada to ensure that education systems meet the needs of Aboriginal students.

Mr. Speaker, our work on Education Renewal and Innovation is well underway, with more feedback, information and support coming forward as we share our work with Northern stakeholders and experts in the field.

YELLOWKNIFE (June 4, 2014) – Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Jackson Lafferty yesterday provided information to the Legislative Assembly about the planned implementation of Junior Kindergarten across the Northwest Territories over the next three years.

Mr. Speaker, last week I informed the Assembly that officials from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment would be meeting with officials from the two Yellowknife Education Authorities to compare financial numbers about Junior Kindergarten. I would like to advise the Assembly of the results of those meetings, because I think they confirmed that there is a lot of incorrect information floating around about Junior Kindergarten.

Mr. Speaker, healthy educated people are a priority for this Assembly and our government continues to investigate ways to support our children’s development and give them the right start in life.

YELLOWKNIFE (June 2, 2014) – Six Northwest Territories residents were honoured this morning as inductees into the Education Hall of Fame, which recognizes the important and lasting contributions of those dedicated to education in the North.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to share some exciting news about the roll out of Junior Kindergarten that will begin in the fall of 2014. There has been much discussion on how we are implementing Junior Kindergarten, and we carefully considered comments and concerns raised by Education Boards on the rollout of Junior Kindergarten.

Mr. Speaker, we put the decision to Education Boards and gave them a choice of whether they wanted to implement Junior Kindergarten in the fall of this year, or defer it to next year.

YELLOWKNIFE (May 7, 2014) – The education ministers of N.W.T., Nunavut and Yukon met yesterday in Yellowknife to review current issues and discuss ways to continue working together to support education across Canada’s North.

YELLOWKNIFE (March 17, 2014) – The Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) has been in exploratory discussions with education partners on school utilization in Hay River and Yellowknife since September 2013. These discussions were motivated by the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories’ orders that the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) provide Commission scolaire francophone (CSF) schools in Yellowknife and Hay River with gyms and additional classrooms.

YELLOWKNIFE (March 11, 2014) – Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Jackson Lafferty is announcing new funding for the Beaufort Delta Education Council’s (BDEC) e-learning program. This program allows students to remain in their home communities while taking a wide range of academic courses not normally offered in their community school.