Economic gurus warn of poor health, education

Nunavut’s economic future is still clouded by poor population health and poor quality education, says a report issued by the Nunavut Economic Forum.

The report is an update on a study issued by the Conference Board of Canada in 2001, and looks at what’s changed in the five years since.

The researchers found that progress in developing Nunavut’s “human capital” — its people — is too slow.

“The pace of these improvements will disappoint Nunavummiut and other observers, but this should not deter anyone’s resolve on this front,” they said in their executive summary.

Their report says “serious issues exist with the health status and education of Nunavummiut, in particular for women and children,” and that in spite of increasing numbers of high school graduates, “significant work remains in raising the quality of education children receive.”