Nunavut deputy minister offers more detail on PASS program

If you are older than 19 years, have attended high school in Nunavut for a while, but have been out of school for at least one year, the new “PASS” program may be for you.

Nunavut’s education department is developing a new way for adults to get a Nunavut Secondary School diploma that will be called the Pathway to Adult Secondary School Graduation, or “PASS” for short.

On March 8, during the Nunavut legislature’s committee of the whole, the education department’s deputy minister Kathy Okpik offered a preview of the program, which she said could produce 100 to 200 new graduates for the territory.

The program would use the same requirements that students need to graduate from high school now, she said.

But PASS also plans to use prior learning assessment recognition through Nunavut Arctic College. This assessment can give credit to students for learning experiences outside the classroom.

“It’s a very rigorous documentation process to capture life experiences of our teachers,” Okpik said. “So, that’s how it will be done. “

While Okpik said the education department is still working on actual program delivery, the department plans to hire three people; a PASS Registrar, a PASS recognized learning specialist and a program auditor.

Nunavut Arctic College will be the program deliverer, she said.

To enroll in PASS, you have to be 19 and have an approved learning plan.

You also need to be out of school at least for a year.

You can’t have a valid secondary school diploma, you must contact PASS option representatives and you have to be a resident of Nunavut or have completed some high school credits in Nunavut, Okpik said.

The first cohort “that we’re really going to be focusing on” includes 100-200 Nunavummiut who only need to complete English 30 to gain their secondary school diploma.

Nunavut Arctic College will develop the curriculum over the 2013-14 academic year.

The education department plans to develop a communications and promotion plan for potential clients and for the general public.

The new high school diploma will help more people in the territory find work, Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak said last month.

The new PASS diploma, first mentioned last February when Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced CanNor spending of $11.1 million on adult education in Nunavut over the next five years.

On several other educational programs, Aariak and Okpik and education minister said they were unable to offer detail.

Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott wanted to learn more about $50,000 in the budget slated for Outward Bound, on details on plans to ensured Nunavut schools are “smoke free grounds,” the territory’s emotional learning curriculum in elementary schools, student assessments, and drop-out prevention programs.

The Department of Education’s proposed 2013-14 operations and maintenance budget: $183.6 million which takes into account the transfer of a number of positions, divisions and responsibilities to the Department of Family Services on April 1.