Nunavut teachers encouraged to close the gap between two worlds: Aariak

Nunavut Premier and Education Minister Eva Aariak says the territory’s teachers can help their students succeed by bridging the gap between traditional and modern Inuit society.

Aariak spoke Feb. 14 to the Piliriqatigiinniq Teacher’s Conference, which has drawn more than 500 Nunavut teachers to the territory’s capital this week.

“Your challenge is not to push Nunavut’s students up to a certain level, or to fix something that is broken,” Aariak told the conference. “Your challenge is to close the gap between two worlds – the world that I was born into and the world that my grandchildren will have to navigate.”

Aariak acknowledged how easy it is to focus on the challenges facing Nunavut’s education system, a problem already weighed down by what she called “unacceptably low” graduation rates.

“Every day we hear about the tough challenges facing our teachers, our students and our schools,” she said. “As you gather here this week, let us not overlook the progress that is being made.”

Aariak pointed to growing Grade 12 enrolment, which she said has increased by more than 120 per cent since the territory was created.

And she credits that growth to broader curriculum development, giving students more options.

Aariak said she is also encouraged by efforts to build a made-in-Nunavut education system.

The government’s Nunavut Education Act will serve as a blueprint to “achieve the kind of schools and academic achievements that Nunavummiut demand.”

“We want our young people to have every opportunity for post-secondary studies and for work as any other Canadian,” Aariak said. “Nothing less.

Nunavummiut have made it clear, though, that this cannot come at the sacrifice of our language and way of life.”

Aariak said that her government is committed to ensuring that every student has the chance to become fully proficient in Inuit language and either English or French by 2019.

That will happen with the recruitment and training of more Inuit teachers, counsellors and support staff, using the Qalattuq 10-year teacher education strategy, developed through Nunavut Arctic College.

“They are key to bilingual education and delivering more courses in the Inuit Language throughout the territory,” Aariak said.

Early childhood education is playing a role, too, she said, in the three quarters of Nunavut’s communities that have licensed child care facilities where the Inuit language is spoken.

The Piliriqatigiinniq Teacher’s Conference runs until Feb. 18. This is only the second time such a conference has been held since the creation of Nunavut in 1999; the last similar gathering was held in 2005.