Education in the Northwest Territories—Department of Education, Culture and Employment

Education system shows uneven progress

Yellowknife, 11 May 2010—The Department of Education, Culture and Employment needs to improve its planning, monitoring, and reporting for some aspects of the Northwest Territories’ education system, says Sheila Fraser, the Auditor General of Canada, in an audit report issued to the Legislative Assembly today.

“Education is an investment that is vital to the development of the Northwest Territories,” said Ms. Fraser. “Educated citizens are better able to meet the demands of a modern economy and to become productive, participating members of society.”

Overall, the audit found that the Department needs to better assess whether its programs are achieving the intended results. It also needs to play a greater leadership role in working with the education councils that deliver the majority of elementary and high school education programs in the NWT. For example, it should collaborate with them to develop a territory-wide action plan for improving student performance. It does not have such a plan and has not provided education councils with guidance on how to improve the performance of students in their regions. The education councils and Aurora College were not audited.

Although high school graduation rates have increased steadily since 2005, results of standard tests and diploma examinations show that that high school students’ achievement has not improved. The audit found that the Department has not analyzed these diverging trends to identify and address the causes. However, it has begun an initiative to close the gap between the graduation rates of Aboriginal and non-aboriginal students.

The Department has increased the number of licensed day care facilities and placed more emphasis on education in day care. However, it has not assessed whether children who have attended day care do better in elementary school than children who have not. As a result, the Department does not know whether its increased focus on education programming in day care is having positive results or if program adjustments are needed.

In addition, the Department has not ensured that adult training needs are fully identified and that training programs are regularly evaluated. However, it has had some success in using partnerships such as the mobile trades unit to help deliver training in regions and communities where a need has been identified.

“The Department has undertaken a number of initiatives to improve student performance,” said Ms. Fraser. “To ensure that they succeed, it needs to collaborate more closely with its education partners and monitor the results of these initiatives.”

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 “Education in the Northwest Territories” is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada Web site.

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