A quarter of a century has passed since Nunavut separated from the Northwest Territories and became a territory.
With a current population of approximately 39,000 residents in a remote area over two million square kilometres, facing challenges is a way of life for the primarily Inuit people who strive to meld their traditional way of life with the technology that is vital in the current day’s economy.
One of the challenges that has had to be overcome since the territory’s self-determination is the education of students in a way to ensure their future success.
When the 2008 Education Act was introduced, it was seen as a revolutionary way to incorporate traditional values held dear by the territory’s Indigenous peoples, languages and way of life, with the modern skills necessary to prosper.
Creating the foundation
Since then, the Department of Education has built upon that framework to ensure the act evolves to serve its population.
Pamela Hakongak Gross, the current minister of Education, said improvements have continued in various areas throughout the system since April 1,1999.
“From 1999 to 2009, we’ve increased our number of student support positions and we’ve had educational leadership programs for principals and vice-principals that really expanded significantly across the territory for our school leaders,” Gross said.
Growing graduates
The graduation rate for students has improved over decades, Gross noted.
“In 1999, we had 98 graduates and in 2023, we had 261 graduates, so that is a 166 per cent increase in the graduation rate.”
One highlight in student achievement came in 2009-2010, when 21 Inuit students graduated from the master of education program for teachers, she said.
“That was a significant milestone and many of those Inuit became our school leaders.”
Language priorities
The Education Act had priorities and accomplishments which meant there was to be mandatory bilingual education — in Inuktitut and English — from kindergarten to Grade 3, Gross said. However, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) has argued strenuously that Inuktitut education should already be available through to Grade 12. NTI took the matter to court, where the case is still pending.
In 2011-12, a designated space for full-time daycare was created in all Nunavut communities, as well.
Gross said 2013-14 was a big year for the initiatives implemented to support the effective delivery of the language of instruction models.
“We were training our teachers in language arts in listening, speaking, reading and writing approaches in both languages,” she said.
A database was developed to gather details on educators’ bilingual capacities at all levels, from kindergarten to Grade 12. The department also worked with bilingual teaching from grades 1 to 3, she added.
“And we had Inuktitut language arts resources implemented for grades 10 to 12.”
Gross said communities vary in terms of how much they speak the Inuit language.
“Some of our communities are very strong and have their language and predominantly use their language in their communities, and we have some that are more in the middle and some that have severe language loss,” she said.
“We are really working to ensure that we have access and curriculum for that language and it is a whole community approach where language incentives have to start at home and we need to ensure there are programs at work as well — for people to have language classes as well.
“It’s a holistic thing. When you support the school, you have to support the community and that is another area we are really looking to enhance — our family engagement strategy and working with our community, parents and siblings and everyone that is involved in a student’s life.”
“I think enhancing our made-in-Nunavut curriculum and starting with our grassroots in our early learning and child care and having resources in our daycares, I think we will see many positive improvements right up to the full-day kindergarten having more instructional time and creative play in our schools,” said Gross.
Also in terms of literacy, Gross said a comprehensive literacy framework in interactive English and French was introduced for kindergarten and Grade 1.
“In 2015-16, we had a territory-wide plan to improve literacy outcomes,” she said.
Regarding students’ well-being in the classroom, Gross said in the same year, they partnered with the Canadian Red Cross and Embrace Life Council to provide training for coping skills, anger management, healthy living, suicide prevention and general health and wellness for students.
More recently, Gross said this past school year saw 33 child and youth school mental health professionals hired in all the communities.
Gross said over 25 years, they have been able to build 14 schools, including the Piqqusilirivvik Inuit Cultural Learning Facility in Clyde River, the rest being in 12 Nunavut communities.
Made in Nunavut
Federal support has allowed the department to create a made-in-Nunavut curriculum, according to the minister.
“These are books and resources, and we also created materials and activities such as puppets and puzzles and Nunavut-themed activities for kids to use.
This specialized teaching is set in the guiding principles of the Nunavut way of life, she said.
“It is themed with Inuit being front and centre of what we know in our environment and our communities, and showcasing the animals and the land and who we are as a way of life. But also having resources being created in Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun and having them available for our schools so our teachers can teach with those materials.
“And we have committed to developing this curriculum for all grades and subjects so that we can teach in Inuktitut and English and the timespan for this made-in-Nunavut curriculum is from 2020 to 2039.”
Gross said it’s great that the Nunavut Teacher Education Program students who are enrolled at Nunavut Arctic College are learning to use the made-in-Nunavut curriculum so they are familiar with the information when they enter the school system.
“We are finally at the point where we have the dedicated work underway and we have fully submerged ourselves in that work and it’s really exciting to see that the schools are going to start to implement it and use it as early as next year,” Gross said.
Education support
Another key area that has been supported by the department is that of education support services, she said.
“We offer support services to all of our schools: speech language pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, deaf and hard of hearing service, American sign language, educational psychology, mental health support services and we also work with neurodiverse support, such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
“But the most notable thing out of that is that in September 2023, we expanded all those mental health support services to all of our schools.”
Although it’s always a challenge to hire and recruit educators, including Inuit educators, due to a global teacher shortage, the department has been fortunate to have 90 per cent of the teacher positions filled.
“We are always working to actively recruit and retain educators, in particular Inuit educators, so we are working with Nunavut Arctic College and we have supported them,” Gross said, adding that with support from the federal government, the program is expanding.
“So right now, there are 137 Nunavut Teacher Education Program students in 15 communities across Nunavut.”
Connecting with technology
Keeping up with technology is another challenge for the remote region, Gross acknowledged.
Gross said during Covid lockdown, they were able to purchase internet-capable devices for students, which helped keep students connected.
“I think there are improvement with technology and we keep seeing more improvements,” she added.
She also mentioned an update of student financial assistance that is underway.
“We are really working to improve our Financial Assistance for Nunavut students. That’s been something that I heard loud and clear when I first came into government and the department has been working really hard to make improvements for that sector.
“I think if we keep making these changes and improvements and working as we are — we are a young territory — we weren’t fully established and set up when we became a territory, so there are so many different hurdles that we have to get through.
“We are really working hard to ensure that we get through everything that we can and working to improve our schools and build new schools and renovate schools and expand on on that so our territory has the infrastructure as well.”