July 19, 2011 - Sylvia Clement of Tulita has been awarded this year’s Council of the Federation (CoF) Literacy Award for the Northwest Territories.

Presented annually to one individual from each of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, the award celebrates outstanding achievement, innovative practice and excellence in literacy across the entire spectrum of the field of literacy, including: family, Aboriginal, health, workplace and community.

July 14, 2011 - Monday marked the start of the second annual NWT Aboriginal Languages Summer Institute. A partnership between the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) and the University of Victoria Certificate Program in Aboriginal Language Revitalization, the two-week Institute runs from July 11th to the 23rd, 2011 and brings together 19 participants from across the NWT.

June 30, 2011 - The ministers responsible for education in Canada’s three territories signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to express their mutual interests and goals in exploring approaches for university development in Canada’s North.

June 29, 2011 - The National Strategy on Inuit Education has officially been released. The strategy, developed in association with the GNWT’s Department of Education Culture and Employment (ECE), includes a series of bold new recommendations to empower parents, expand early childhood programs and gather detailed research data.

The ultimate goal of the strategy is to increasing graduation rates and opportunities amongst the Inuit population in the Canadian Arctic.

June 29, 2011 - The GNWT is accepting nominations for its inaugural Minister’s Cultural Circle to recognize those who contribute to  preserving and promoting the arts, cultures and heritage in the Northwest Territories.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 – Nearly 40 youth from across the NWT staged the first dance flash mob in Fort Smith last week. The students were part of the inaugural NWT Youth Symposium, hosted by Aurora College, and spent Thursday afternoon participating in the Aboriginal Student Achievement (ASA) Youth Forum hosted by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE).

June 16, 2011 - Approximately 50 high school students, gathered from across the NWT, are discussing their concerns and ideas to improve education in the North as the Aboriginal Student Achievement (ASA) Youth Forum gets underway in Fort Smith.

May 25, 2011 - The GNWT’s Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) is hosting a Labour Force Development Symposium this Wednesday and Thursday, where it will launch the Northwest Territories Labour Force Development Framework – People, Partnerships, Possibilities.

May 20, 2011 - The Department of Education, Culture and Employment, District Education Councils and Regional Aboriginal Governments will launch Dene Kede: Trails to Becoming CD-ROM on Tuesday evening, May 24, 2011. The disc is a teacher orientation tool for Northwest Territories’ (NWT) educators on the Dene Kede curricula and rolls out to all NWT schools in the fall.

May 17, 2011 - The Aboriginal Student Achievement (ASA) Status Report was tabled yesterday by Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Jackson Lafferty.

“Our long-term goal of developing and implementing a territorial education plan to bridge the achievement gap between Aboriginal and other students is receiving constant support from Aboriginal governments as well as community and education leaders,” says Lafferty.