Backed by Inuit job-training money, Pirurvik offers new Inuktut programs

Iqaluit’s Pirurvik Centre will offer new programs to help Inuit build stronger Inuktut skills, starting in mid-January 2020.

“The new programs are a natural evolution for Pirurvik,” said Leena Evic, the centre’s founder and president, in a news release issued on Nov. 28.

The programs have received a three-year funding commitment from the Makigiaqta Inuit Training Corp. to provide Nunavummiut with enhanced Inuktut skills for employment, the release said.

The courses will also provide certificates and accreditation through a partnership with the University of Victoria.

“For 16 years we have steadily built up our courses through ad hoc funding from a wide variety of sources. We are very excited to be taking this essential next step with the launch of formal and accredited certificate and diploma programs in Inuktut,” Evic said in the release.

The timing is good, given that 2019 is the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages, she said.

“This is our opportunity to see the active implementation of Inuktut as a working language at a practical level,” Evic said. “I believe with meaningful intentions and actions, we can advance the use of our language in the workplace so that it becomes the norm in our grandchildren’s time.”

Qimattuvik certificate program

The four-month Qimattuvik certificate program on professional Inuktut for the workplace will offer full-time training to Inuktut speakers who want to improve their job-related Inuktut skills, Pirurvik said.

Their courses will include subjects such as working with writing systems, keyboarding and creative writing.

Participants who complete all the courses in the program will receive a certificate from the University of Victoria in Indigenous Language Revitalization.

And they’ll also earn credits towards the Aqqusiurvik Inuktut Instructor Diploma, also accredited by the University of Victoria.

The first program runs from Jan. 20, 2020, to May 20, 2020.

Aurniarvik program

The Aurniarvik program is intended for Inuit who are learning Inuktut as a second language and want to become functional in Inuktut in their professional and personal lives, Pirurvik said.

Aurniarvik is designed specifically for Inuit who have grown up speaking English.

Courses in this six-month program emphasize speaking, comprehension, reading and writing, as well as building on the connection participants have with the Inuit way of life.

Students completing the program will receive a certificate in Indigenous Language Proficiency from the University of Victoria.

The Aurniarvik program runs from Jan. 20, 2020, to Aug. 6, 2020.

Aqqusiurvik Inuktut Instructor Diploma 

Students enrolled in Pirurvik’s Aqqusiurvik Inuktut Instructor Diploma will also earn credits towards a Bachelor’s of Education in Indigenous Language Revitalization from the University of Victoria.

In the program, participants will strengthen their Inuktut abilities and build the skills needed to be effective instructors of Inuktut immersion classes, Pirurvik said.

“Our program is unique in that it is designed around providing Inuktut instruction to adults,” a field where there is a critical shortage of trained candidates to fill the jobs that are available, Evic said.

That program next runs from Aug. 31, 2020, to Nov. 30, 2020.