Nunavut tries again on Education Act

SARA MINOGUE

Two years after Nunavut’s first Education Act died in the legislative assembly, the Government of Nunavut’s department of education is getting ready to unveil a second draft.

Manitok Thompson is now leading the project as a legislative specialist for the department of education. She was also an MLA representing Rankin Inlet South-Whale Cove when the first education bill was proposed, and was minister of education when it started getting terrible reviews during the standing committee on education’s public consultations.

“A lot of people said they’ve never heard of it. A lot of people said they were not part of it. And that’s where it sort of fell apart,” Thompson said.

This time, Thompson is making sure that parents, teachers and people in the communities get a say on what’s in the bill well before it gets a first reading in the house.

“If you’re going to develop a bill you have to do a lot of public awareness so that people are in tune.”

Thompson, a long-time teacher and education adminstrator, joined the education department near the end of last year to start work on a new bill that includes the comments and suggestions that were gathered during the last round of public consultations.

A new steering committee met last week to help guide changes to the existing Education Act, a 74-page document inherited from the Northwest Territories.

The committee includes a representative from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., which complained about the lack of support for Inuktitut in schools in the original bill.

Other representatives on the committee, which met this past weekend for the first time, include the Federation of Nunavut Teachers, Nunavut Association of Municipalities, Commission scolaire francophone du Nunavut, and the Inuit Qaujimagatuqangit Katimajiit, the GN’s IQ committee made up of members from the education department and the department of culture, language, elders and youth.

Thompson has met separately with local district education authorities via conference call. All DEAs have been sent a copy of the proposed bill – a 61-page document – to review.

“The bill I’ve sent to the communities is probably the first time some communities have seen it,” Thompson said.

The education department has also produced flyers and information sheets for each community. Thompson is now working on Inuktitut recordings outlining the issues to send to local radio stations in advance of the community visits her department will make.

“I’m trying to get the people to start thinking about the education act – questions to ask, what topics they should be thinking about – before we hit their community.”

The proposed bill is based on Bill 1, the first made-in-Nunavut Education Act that hit the legislative assembly in spring 2002, and was withdrawn a year later.

This time, everything is up for revision. Topics in the bill include everything from hours of instruction, school programming and support for teachers to Inuit language and culture in the classroom and and the role of the DEA and the education minister.

Other issues are sure to come up.

Thompson has already heard from two parents who are concerned about school suspensions and would like to see an alternate form of discipline. During the last round of consultations on the Education Act, others said the proposed bill would make it too difficult for school principals to suspend students.

Others have suggested an emphasis on stay-in-school initiatives.

The department of education will work with DEAs and hamlets to come up with a schedule for community visits starting this summer and fall.

For more information, or to send you comments, email educationact@gov.nu.ca. A 1-800 number will soon be announced, and a web site is under construction.