Critics hope Education Act can deliver huge changes

Last week's standing committee hearings on Bill 21, Nunavut's new Education Act, drew comments from the territory's francophones, various Inuit groups, teachers and representatives from district education authorities.

Here's what they had to say about the bill, which the government hopes to push through third reading to become law before the territorial election in October.

Francophones demand "exclusive control"

Paul Crowley, a lawyer representing Nunavut's francophone association, says Bill 21 may violate the special rights of francophones, as protected in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He said the draft law needs to grant francophones "exclusive control" over their school system. That includes full control over how Iqaluit's French school board spends its money.

Iqaluit's French school, Ecole des Trois Soleils, employs four teachers and has about 47 children enrolled, from Kindergarten to Grade 9. It is partly funded with money from the federal government – but this money is administered by Nunavut.

Francophones want full control over their budget, and a system put in place to help resolve disputes between the francophone school board and education department. At times, Crowley said francophones feel ignored by department officials.

Francophones also want more direction from government on setting curriculum goals, and more money to help kids with special needs.

However, Crowley said the new act is a big improvement over Bill 1, Nunavut's first try at drafting an education act, which died on the order paper in 2003.

Crowley represented Nunavut's francophones at that time, too. He said he hopes Bill 21 passes before the autumn election – "I don't want to make a career out of this."

Inuit want special rights, too

Paul Kaludjak, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., says he won't support the new Education Act until Inuit enjoy the same special rights that francophones enjoy in controlling their school system.

He says this means Nunavut's district education authorities need more power – including the power to hire and fire teachers – although he acknowledged some DEAs currently lack the capacity to take on greater responsibilities.

"I think there should be some power sharing," said Kaludjak. "I think we could live with that."

As it stands, representatives from DEAs say Bill 21 creates "hopeless confusion" over who is in charge of what in schools. One section will often award responsibility to DEAs, while a later section will give ultimate control to the minister.

Jeeeteeta Merkosak, chair of a coalition formed by DEAs, said Inuit will continue to feel alienated by the school system unless more power is devolved to DEAs.

And Madeleine Redfern, a graduate of the Akitsiraq law class, offered the most stinging criticism when she said the new Education Act may be worse than the existing education laws inherited from the Northwest Territories.

She said that's because the old Education Act at least included provisions for aboriginal schools, while Bill 21 doesn't go far enough in ensuring Nunavut will move to a fully bilingual school system.

Nunavut should look to the laws that Quebec passed in the 1970s as a model, Redfern said. She wants English to be considered a minority language in Nunavut.

She said this would mean English would only used as the main language of instruction in communities with a sizeable anglophone community. She acknowledged many Inuit are bilingual – but said it should be their right to choose their language of instruction in schools.

"I believe Inuit have the constitutional right to have children educated in Inuktitut."

She also said community consultations held for Bill 21 were inadequate.

Schools in small communities suffering

Almost everyone who appeared before the standing committee agreed that Nunavut's schools aren't offering adequate education for kids.

Representatives from Coral Harbour's DEA, for example, asked why children who move from smaller communities to regional centres often discover they are several grades behind their peers.

Jimmy Jacquard, president of the Nunavut Teachers Association, said teachers in small communities are more likely to have classes with many children who have fallen seriously behind in their studies.

Teachers then have a difficult choice: either teach the assigned curriculum, which is beyond the comprehension of most students, or teach at a lower level that is understandable.

Jacquard said he found himself in this situation when he taught Grade 9 in Pond Inlet.

"None of those students were in Grade 9," he said. He taught his students Grade 6 or Grade 7 math, and reading was "all over the chart."

Kids usually graduate from one grade to the next, despite their academic performance, because Nunavut subscribes to the idea of "social promotion" – that it's best to keep kids with their peers, even if it means that they fall further behind in studies, year after year.

But this ends in Grade 10, when Alberta's curriculum is enforced, and many kids inevitably drop out. Only one in four kids in Nunavut finish high school.

The government expects many kids to fail, and packs Grade 10 classrooms accordingly.

It's not uncommon to see Grade 10 classes for basic English and Math filled with 40 to 45 students in September, Jacquard said. "You're guaranteed 20 of them won't stay," he said. "It's just too big a class."

The only solution for teachers is to wait, until the class size whittles down. Jacquard acknowledged "that's not acceptable," but also said the alternative involves spending a lot more money on teaching staff.

"That's a lot of extra resources. That would be a lot of dollars."