By Email and by Mail

February 15, 2017

The Hon. Peter Taptuna

Premier of Nunavut
Government of Nunavut
P.O. Box 2410
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
Premier.taptuna@gov.nu.ca

The Hon. Paul Quassa

Minister of Education
Government of Nunavut
P.O. Box 2410
Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0
pquassa@gov.nu.ca

Dear Premier Taptuna and Minister Quassa,

I am writing to ask that you take immediate action to support Inuktut language in our
Nunavut schools.

Premier Taptuna I know you will agree, the two major initiatives I am about to reference
will significantly resolve the language and education crisis in Nunavut because one of
your number one priorities is education.

Today our Inuit children are taught by unilingual English speaking teachers. In fact 80%
of educators in Nunavut are unilingual English speakers.

It is clear now that this is resulting in Inuktut language loss and Inuit cultural loss.

The roots of this current circumstance go back to a time long preceding our current
shared and individual responsibilities. Nonetheless, we are in a position to act today.
We have the responsibility to reverse the circumstances, for the sake of our future.

The Inuit Employment Plan for Educators, legally required since 1993, is sorely needed
and must be implemented through vigorous training efforts without delay. In 1996, the
GNWT completed an Inuit Employment Plan for 1996-2003, with detailed targets for
representative Inuit employment in our schools by 2006.
Unfortunately, that Inuit Employment Plan was not implemented and the percentage of
Inuit teachers has declined since. One reason may lie in the report itself, which states
that The most commonly suggested barrier to recruiting Inuit is the lack of training
dollars available. . . (p.15)

Its 2017 and we have an opportunity to turn this around.

Minister Quassa you have expressed confidence that the Educator Inuit Employment
Plan will have an immediate positive impact. I agree that increasing the number of
Inuit teachers will significantly improve the delivery of Inuktut language of instruction
education to our children.

By letters dated October 24 and November 23, 2016, Nunavut Tunngavik provided each
of you with our Educator Inuit Employment Plan discussion paper.

You will recall that the discussion paper contains concrete recruitment and training
proposals for educator candidates, with rough cost estimates. You are welcome to use
this information to develop the Educator Inuit Employment Plan and related budgetary
allotments.

Nunavut Tunngavik was advised by departmental officials in December that targets and
timetables for this training cannot be determined without the necessary funding
approvals.

To break the inertia, the O&M budget process for 2017-18 must reflect you and your
cabinet colleagues political commitment to Inuit educator training, and yield substantial
budgetary resources for this purpose. Your financial commitment and political direction
to officials to begin implementation of this critical Inuit Employment Plan is needed now.

In addition to the GN devoting substantial funding to educator training, NTIs letter to

Minister Quassa in October 24 noted that:

NTI would support, as a supplementary measure, early and substantial priority

access to the $50 million training fund for interim training measures for
educators.

I remain committed to this support, and encourage you to propose appropriate uses of
the $50 million fund for Inuit educator training measures without delay.
The Prime Ministers commitment to Indigenous languages legislation and funding
encourages us to also seek concrete substantial commitments from the Government of
Canada.

In the last week NTI has raised with the Prime Minister and other federal ministers the
need for a tripartite political partnership to address the Inuktut language crisis.

I am of the view the federal government must play a part in funding the $26 million per
year Language Mentors Program, which is also detailed in NTIs Educator Inuit
Employment Plan discussion paper. Further I am suggesting that a joint GN-NTI
proposal on Language Mentors Program is drafted for the Makigiaqta Board to review.

With kind regards,

Aluki Kotierk
President

cc: Mr. Pauloosie Akeeagok, President, Qikiqtani Inuit Association

Mr. David Ningeongan, President, Kivalliq Inuit Association
Mr. Stanley Anablak, President, Kitikmeot Inuit Association
 Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
Nunavut Educator IEP Discussion Paper
October 24, 2016

Overview
The biggest factor today in the erosion of Inuit language and culture is the predominantly
non-Inuit school system. Some ninety-seven percent (97%) of Nunavut students in
Kindergarten through Grade 12 are Inuit, yet eighty percent (80%) of teachers are non-
Inuit.1 These numbers reflect a continuation, in present day terms, of the loss of culture
and language experienced by Inuit in the residential and day schools of the past.

The Inuit of Nunavut have the inherent, Aboriginal right to educate our children in our
own language and culture. The school system must change fundamentally, to Inuktut-
speaking classrooms, with education centred in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) for this
right to be honoured in practice today.

Inuktut Language of Instruction (LOI) is required under the 2008 Education Act, but it
has not been implemented. NTI has proposed to the Government of Nunavut (GN) that,
as an urgent priority, Inuktut LOI be introduced in Grades K-3 in all Nunavut schools. In
the medium-term, this should be extended to Grades 4-8. As a longer term goal, it should
be extended to Grades 9-12. To achieve these Inuktut LOI goals, and bolster the use of
Inuktut across as many grades and subjects as possible, there is an urgent need for a
dramatic increase in the numbers of Inuktut-speaking educators.

With that urgency in mind, the following are NTIs initial ideas for a Nunavut Educators
Inuit Employment Plan (IEP). These measures provide building blocks towards achieving
Inuktut LOI education in Grades K-12. They are worth considering separately and in
combination. Other building blocks could, no doubt, also be usefully identified and
examined. Our hope is that these ideas lead to an IEP being completed by December
2016, with substantial financial investment by the GN, and immediate positive impacts
on Inuktut-speaking educator numbers.

Part I: Training Elements of a Nunavut Educator IEP

1) Language Specialists Program

It is critical that Inuit students have Inuktut-speaking instructors that they can
communicate with in the classroom. NTI is recommending an early and intensive
recruitment and training program to bring significant numbers of new Inuktut-speaking

1 See Appendix for NTIs Notes on Costs and Numbers.

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Language Specialists into the classrooms to help deliver the educational program in
Inuktut, as required by law.

Our proposal is for a program that will add 210 new Language Specialists to Nunavut
schools. The current number of 76 would be increased to 286, with a goal of establishing
5-person Language Specialist teams for each of Nunavut's 42 schools.

Recruitment could proceed as follows:

- There are currently 993 Inuit substitute teachers on lists maintained by Nunavut
principals.2 NTI has been informed that the majority of these lack formal
qualifications, but likely have basic classroom management skills, satisfactory
criminal record and vulnerable sector checks, and are already in the system with
GN employee numbers --- potentially making many of them good candidates for
training.
- DEAs could actively recruit and recommend Language Specialist candidates from
these lists.
- An immediate telephone survey/recruitment drive of these Inuit substitute
teachers could be deployed to establish interest and level of preparedness.
Malatest Inc., which has recent experience with Inuktut language phone surveys,
might be considered for this purpose.

Language Specialist trainees/instructors could be given provisional teaching diplomas for

two years while they complete their basic training. Once established, this training pool of
Language Specialists can be used as a source for new Inuktut-speaking teacher trainees.

An infusion of local Inuit Language Specialists would best remain in place at least until
adequate numbers of certificate, diploma and degree certified bilingual educators can be
trained (as identified in other proposals below). These numbers will replace non-Inuit
teachers, currently imported from the south at great expense,3 as positions become
vacant, and would eventually balance out DOEs payroll costs.

Rough cost:

210 Language Specialists x $125,000 = $26.3m/yr., for 2 years of training.

This is an area that may lend itself particularly well to joint funding by the Government
of Canada and the GN, in keeping with their respective and shared responsibilities and
roles, and their relative resources.

2 Toward a Representative Public Service, Government of Nunavut, June 2016 at 24.

3See Appendix, Note 1, regarding The Cost of Not Successfully Implementing Article 23,
PricewaterhouseCoopers 2003.

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2) Double the Community Teacher Education Program (CTEP)
NTI recommends a doubling of Nunavut CTEP delivery from 10 to 20 communities,
with:
(1) the majority of the educational program offered in the communities,
(2) development of the program in Inuktut, and where this is not possible on a
timely basis, adequate translation of the program into Inuktut,
(3) an adequate Inuktut language skills upgrading element, to increase the
proficiency of trainees in Inuktut, and
(4) development and availability of Inuktut resources, which will be pivotal to
achieving Inuktut as a language of instruction in Nunavut schools.

Active recruitment in the communities would be required for an enhanced CTEP

program, with a minimum goal of 10 teacher trainees per community. This would mean
an enrolment of 200 Inuit educator trainees, who, if admitted in September 2017 for the
current 5 year program, would graduate in 2022.

When recruiting for CTEP in the communities, it will also be important to increase the
use of Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) techniques, and to recognize
equivalencies.

A strong recruitment effort shows a high probability of success. Prof. Paul Bergers
research reveals a significant degree of interest in the Nunavut Teacher Education
Program (NTEP) from high school students in 11 communities (tellingly, most students
had never heard of NTEP).

Another important ingredient of success would be if all 42 schools in Nunavut are

considered teacher-training campuses, with principals and vice principals required to
support their schools being used to train Inuit educators.

NTI suggests that the Cape Dorset model be considered for many or all communities. In
Cape Dorset during the period 1992-96, CTEP trained 10 Inuit teachers, 8 of whom were
still teaching there 10 years later. Cape Dorsets vice-principal (1992-96) was a CTEP
instructor. The school was used as a training ground for teachers, with CTEP being an
extension of the school. Inuit teachers had two afternoons off per week to attend CTEP,
and 2 weeks off per semester to attend full-time course modules (usually Inuktut
upgrading). Notably, one key to the Iqaluit courses being successful was the presence of
childcare.

A special category for emergency CTEP could also be created for communities having
few or no Inuit teachers. Such communities will require intensive recruitment measures,
and would be the first to draw on wrap-around support monies to ensure teacher trainees
complete the program.

Finally, prior to the renewal of the arrangement with the University of Regina for
NTEP/CTEP in 2017, a range of candidate universities should be solicited for proposals.

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A consortium of two or more universities might be considered. Assessment should be
based in significant part on anticipated speed of results.

Rough cost:

- Current cost of CTEP is $2.2m/yr. Doubling CTEP may be expected to cost an

additional $2.2m/yr.
- CTEP trainees should be paid to attend. A cost of $1000/mo. or $12,000/yr. for
200 students = $2.4m/yr.
- Total: $4.6m/yr. over 5 years for each cohort.

As noted above, wrap-around support (childcare, etc.) will also be essential to reduce
attrition rates.

As a matter of priority, the Nunavut Housing Corporation (NHC) should be enlisted to

provide housing units for CTEP instructors in emergency CTEP communities. If this
NHC support is unavailable, significant budget increases may be required for housing for
instructors.

3) Re-establish the original NWT TEP 2 year Teaching Diploma

The former Northwest Territories Teacher Education Program (NWT TEP) teaching
diploma could be customized and re-established in Nunavut, to be delivered by Nunavut
Arctic College (NAC) in all 25 Nunavut communities, with provisional certification and
on-the-job training (see also discussion below at p.8), with a focus on preparing Inuktut-
speaking teacher trainees to deliver language of instruction in Inuktut, and providing
Inuktut-upgrading where needed.

As suggested under #1 above for a Language Specialist Program, candidates with

aptitude and motivation for teaching could be recruited from substitute teacher lists, and
from students with Grade12, selected through interviews and utilizing PLAR techniques.
The immediate goal would be to recruit 1/4 of the existing 993 Inuit substitute teachers,
or approximately 225 candidates. These candidates could be offered immediate paid
positions, at, for example, 75% of full-pay while training.

Rough cost:

- 225 TEP positions @ $125,000 = $28.1m/yr.;

plus 2 instructors per community @ $250,000 x 25 =$6.25m/yr.
Total: $34.35m/yr.

4
 nd
4) Nunavut Sivuniksavut 2 year: Teaching Training Stream
A discussion with Nunavut Sivuniksavut (NS) could be initiated to consider the addition
of an alternative 2nd year NS program, or an optional third year, devoted to teacher
training. NS graduates are keen Inuit role models and encourage younger students. The
successful NS model and reputation could be used to create a specific brand of educator
diploma: a one-year program with theory and study in Ottawa, followed by practicums in
Nunavut.

A minimum 10 student cohort to start, with students funded for 2 semesters, plus
practicum, may be appropriate.

Rough cost:
- 12 months x 1000.00/mo. x 10 students = $120,000;
- 2 Ottawa instructors/practicum supervisors: $80,000 x 2= 160,000;
- $20,000 administrative fee;

Approximate total: $300,000/yr.

5) Renew Inuit Masters of Education (M.Ed.) program

Thirty-seven Inuit teachers obtained their M.Ed. degrees from University of Prince
Edward Island from 2009-2013. These graduates are ideally suited to take on
principal/vice principal positions (see Part 3, #3 below).

These universities should be contacted to identify their interest in and the costs to
reestablish an Inuit M.Ed. program. We are aware that St. Francis Xavier is currently
pioneering a Mikmaq M.Ed. program.

The approximately126 Inuit teachers with B.Ed. degrees should be canvassed to recruit a
cohort of 30 M.Ed. candidates. Diploma-certified educators should be permitted to apply
for the M.Ed. program, if PLAR, work experience or equivalencies warrant.

6) High School Guidance Counselors

Secondary school guidance counselors traditionally serve a dual role of career and
personal counseling.

As we understand it, Nunavut schools currently have Ilinniarvimmi Inuusiliriji (school

community counsellors) in every school to provide social and emotional support to
students.

Only two Nunavut high schools, however, have guidance counselors. In terms of career
counselling, these are key positions to develop "interest and preparedness" among the

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young Inuit labour force (see Article 23, Part 3 of the Nunavut Agreement), and also
would help in identifying promising educator trainees.

Both the personal and career counselling roles are important and should be staffed in all
secondary schools, as soon as possible. NTI suggests that discussions with NAC take
place regarding a program to train guidance counselors, who can serve both a career
counselling and personal counselling role.

Rough cost

Training: to be determined.
Employing additional guidance counselors once trained: 13 x $125,000 = $1.635m/yr.

7) Initiate McGill-Nunavut Arctic College MOU on Nunavik TEP

vacancies
Each semester, McGill Universitys teacher training program offers modules taught in
Inuktut in the Nunavik region (e.g., a short 4 week module in summer 2016 on how to
teach technology courses in upper high school levels in Inuktut). NTI understands that
these modules usually have significant numbers of available seats.

NTI proposes that NAC establish an MOU with McGill to allow Nunavut Inuit to attend
these modules, and provide some method for swift recruitment of Nunavut Inuit into
vacancies in McGill Inuktut language teacher training modules.

Options may also exist to develop Inuktut technical terminology training modules
through a partnership with a university, to be delivered in Nunavut, for Inuit teachers in
the upper grades.

Costs: relocation, accommodation in Nunavik, fee to McGill, per diems for students: to
be determined.

8) Inuit Educators Association

As a measure to increase the recruitment and promotion of Inuit educators, Inuit
educators (approximately 126) should be represented by their own Inuit collective
bargaining unit (separate from the Nunavut Teachers Association) to protect their unique
interests, and their rights under the Nunavut Agreement, similar to the Ciulistet of
Alaskas Inuit Educators Association.

Rough cost:
o one conference per year = $50,000
o travel ($5000 x 125 = $625,000)

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 o funding for Board meetings; funding for one Executive Director and 2
administrative staff positions, 3x $125,000= $375,000
o 4 Bd. mtgs x $20,000 = $80,000
Total: $1.13m/yr.

9) Elders and Elders Coordinators for all high schools

Section 102 of the 2008 Education Act provides for DEAs to hire elders, or Innaq
Inuksiutiliriji. NTI believes that it should be mandatory for each Nunavut high school to
hire two elders (one male, one female), to focus on applying IQ and values to the
curriculum and to the modern world.

We also recommend that two additional positions be considered for training and hiring in
Nunavut high schools to support, coordinate and expand the value of the elders function.
See Karen Tylers 2008 study on how to support Inuit students to complete high school.4

If properly introduced, these positions could help high school students to develop
mentoring relationships, foster career aspirations, and allow them to apply their learning
in ways that benefit the community and themselves.

Rough cost (assuming 2 PYs for elders per high school are already funded):
2 additional PYs x $125,000 x 15 high schools = $3.75m/yr

Part 2: Removal of Credential Barriers

Is there any magic in a four-year B.Ed? It's not to put anyone down who has
taken it or become a wonderful teacher from it; but up to the 1970s many people
who were taught in Canada were taught by teachers who went to 'Normal School'
for a year, and then were taught on the job in an apprentice manner, and then
became amazing teachers who taught the generation of children who grew up to
lead the society today. But somehow we're stuck with saying we don't have
enough teachers, we don't have enough teachers who speak Inuktut, and we don't
know how to get from here to there without massive influxes of cash to teach the
same way that we're already teaching--when there are other ways to do it."

Natan Obed, ITK President, Speech to Inuit Studies Conference,

St. John's NL, Oct. 8, 2016.

4Karen Tyler, Exploring why students stay in school: Inuit perceptions of modern
guideposts (Nutaaq Inuksuit) that will help students stay in high school (Ph.D.
Dissertation)(2008) University of Vermont, p. 424.

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The five-year NTEP degree is an inflated educational requirement and a major obstacle to
increasing Inuit teacher representation in Nunavut schools. The unnecessarily lengthy
program, coupled with a requirement to attend southern universities, constitutes a huge
credential barrier. Among other things, it discourages many Inuit from applying because
it necessitates so much time away from home communities. It would appear to be an
overt and escalating breach of Article 23.

An education degree (B.Ed.) does not have an internationally agreed set of competencies,
elements or duration, as do engineering and medical degrees. The education degree is a
relatively recent invention (1980s). Northern circumstances are very different, and call
for a distinctly made-in-Nunavut approach.

Reducing the B.Ed. requirement does not mean that Nunavut would be dumbing down its
standards or compromising the quality of education. On the contrary, the current
approach is dumbed down in that it discounts or ignores knowledge of Inuit culture,
society and economy, community awareness and fluency in Inuktut (required in
appropriate search criteria by ss.23.4.2(d)(iii) of the Nunavut Agreement). We need to be
creative, forward-thinking and Nunavut-specific in order to get adequate numbers of
capable Inuit in the classrooms in short order. We can do this by laddering credentials.

The original NWT TEP provides an apt analogy. Training and credentialing in the NWT
was originally without university affiliation. It was begun in 1979 in Iqaluit as a 2-year
(72 week) program with diploma certification. Trainees were admitted with Grade 10 or
higher education level, based on an interview and/or supervision of a classroom assistant
to confirm good classroom behaviour. They were granted an NWT teaching diploma on
an interim basis for two years while training, usually as classroom assistants. This
training included practice teaching one day per week. They were required to teach one
day per week at Nakasuk School (a demonstration school for teacher training) and
complete a 6 week practicum. Graduates of the NWT TEP successfully taught, in
Inuktut, from Kindergarten to Grade 3, despite the fact they did not have 5-year B.Ed.
teacher education. Diploma-level educators could be supported to teach up to and
including the high school level.

Studies have noted that the NWT TEP and the Nunavik teacher training program
(affiliated with McGill University) were the only two teacher training programs in
Canada run almost entirely in an Aboriginal language (Inuktut).

By comparison, the required certification to teach adult education in Ontario is a one-year

diploma program offered by most community colleges. Algonquin College, for example,
offers a one year diploma with 6 courses: Adult Learning, Curriculum Development,
Instructional Techniques, Assessment and Evaluation, Managing a Diverse Learning
Environment, and one of either Adults with Learning Disabilities or Instructional
Technology. NTI submits that teaching children is not a sufficiently more complicated
exercise as to require four more years of training than training required to teach adults.
One may speculate that public school teaching has a university level requirement more to

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restrict access to the high wage/pension-guaranteed public sector positions, than due to
complexity of the knowledge to be mastered.

Only two quasi-IEPs have been crafted for the DOE in 20 years: the NWT IEP, during
its preparation for Nunavut, which projected training 306 new Inuit teachers (136
Diploma, 108 degree, and 62 Language Specialists) over 6 years at a total cost of $9
million, and the Qallatuq Strategy (2006), which anticipated a similar blend of
credentials.

The Qallatuq Strategy, never implemented by the GN, would have added 302 Inuit
educators by 2012. A blend of training levels and certifications, as proposed in the NWT
IEP, would be more flexible than a blanket requirement of the B.Ed. teacher
accreditation. DOE has admitted as much, recommending laddering of credentials,
allowing educators to do in-service upgrading (train on-the-job), which is also anticipated
in Article 23 (ss.23.4.2(d)(vi) and (vii)).

It is also important to note that the current gatekeeper function rests with government
certification of educators and, secondarily, with the B.Ed. criterion laid down by southern
universities. Such universities, of course, have no practice or mission to instill Inuit
values or to include knowledge required under ss. 23.4.2(d)(iii) of the Nunavut
Agreement. In the current milieu, southern-recruited teachers are chosen for their generic
aptitude, not for their Nunavut community or environmental knowledge, or knowledge of
Inuit culture, society and economy. If credential requirements continue to be set and
defined by these standards, then non-Inuit, largely unaware of Inuit cultural values and
language, will continue to be recruited as higher-value candidates than Inuit.

This recruiting bias is visible in the cumulative increase of non-Inuit teachers since 2006,
with the addition of 110 non-Inuit teachers (versus 9 new Inuit teachers), increasing the
non-Inuit of the teaching corps from 75% to 78%. The key test for the current credential
model is: have the requirements improved Inuit student learning? The answer is no: the
graduation rate of 25-35% persists.

An alternate approach is possible, and preferable. As stated by Prof. Paul Berger (Faculty
of Education, Lakehead Univ., 2009):

By recognizing that Inuit have knowledge that cannot currently be gained in

Euro-Canadian degree and diploma programs, we take a step away from typical
Qallunaat thinking rather than toward a lowering of standards.

For the above reasons, NTI proposes that standards for educator certification be revisited
by the GN, with NTIs and DEA participation, with a view to removing credential
barriers for Inuit and remove credential loopholes (avoiding ss. 23.4.2(d)(iii)) for non-
Inuit).

NTI proposes the following as a viable range of educator certifications, or streams:

9
 o educator with certificate,
o educator with diploma,
o educator with degree,
o educator trainees (in-service trainees for any of the above certifications),
o Language Specialist (appointed by letter, certificate, or diploma), to be re-
inserted into the Education Act,
o Innait Inuksiutilirijiit (Elders),
o Ilinniarvimmi Inuusilirijiit (school community counselors),
o guidance counselors, and
o teaching assistants

In reconsidering certification, Inuit language proficiency or English as a Second

Language (ESL) certification should be required for all educators (if a non-Inuit teacher
does not speak Inuktut, they should, at a minimum, have ESL training)

Part 3: Recruitment and Hiring

1) Require Inuit majority on hiring committees
NTI proposes that, in accordance with ss. 23.4.2(d)(iv) of the Nunavut Agreement, there
be a majority Inuit presence on all hiring committees for senior DOE staff, RSOs and
educators.

2) Survey of 993 Inuit Substitute Teachers

As a first step in identifying a potential pool of trainees/hires for educator positions, a
consultant could be engaged, pursuant to the Nunavut Agreements NILFA requirement
(s.23.5.1), to conduct a telephone survey of the 993 Inuit substitute teachers, to assess
these individuals interest in pursuing further training or advancement. Such a survey
could also be used as a recruitment tool to encourage Inuit substitute teachers to consider
entering into one of the educator streams.

Some elements of the Nunavut Government Employees Survey (NGES) and Malatests
Public Opinion Research (POR) survey could be used. New questions could be added to
assess interest in full-time work in education, skill levels, language proficiency, and
classroom experience including past experience with children, classroom management,
lesson-planning, curriculum development, knowledge of instructional techniques,
experience with assessment and evaluation of students.

Rough cost: Based on the 2015 Malatest POR survey of 600 Inuit for approximately
$50,000, we estimate the cost of a comparable survey of 993 Inuit at $75,000.

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3) Require Article 23 Hiring Efforts and Succession Planning for
Inuit Principals and Vice Principals
The Nunavut student body is approximately 97% Inuit. 37 out of the 42 principals in
Nunavut are non-Inuit. Immediate efforts should be made to address succession planning
needs for principals and vice principals and to recruit and retain Inuit principals and vice-
principals. Importantly, current principalships should not be lengthened to five year
positions, as proposed by DOE, for non-Inuit, but may be lengthened for Inuit.

Inuit M.Ed. graduates should be actively recruited to replace non-Inuit principals, as

principal positions become vacant. Notably, despite repeated requests from NTI, DOE
has not provided records of how many of Inuit M.Ed. graduates currently work at DOE
and in what capacity. An academic or independent contractor (i.e., Malatest) could be
engaged to do a bilingual phone survey of the graduates to find out their job status and
availability.

4) Enlisting support of Non-Inuit Educators

The role of non-Inuit educators should be expanded to include mentoring and supervising
Inuit educator trainees and Language Specialists. All non-Inuit educators should be
required to have a strong commitment to training and mentoring Inuit. This should be
added to teachers job descriptions/duties.

Team-teaching should be formally encouraged for transference of skills and knowledge

(in both directions).

The principle that all Nunavut schools are teaching schools, where Inuit teachers learn
their craft on the job, should be established in DOE policy.

Non-Inuit educators should be required to be trained in teaching ESL, or have experience

with bilingual education.

Finally, Non-Inuit educators should have a good understanding of the knowledge

required under ss. 23.4.2(d)(iii) of the Nunavut Agreement.

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 Appendix -- Notes on Costs and Numbers
1. The costs presented above should not be considered net or permanent costs.
Rather, costs, to a considerable degree, would be transitional and interim.
Achieving an 85% level of Inuit teachers and other educators will contribute
greatly to meeting Article 23s broader goals and could be expected to help
significantly in bringing about some of the economic savings anticipated in the
2003 PricewaterhouseCoopers report, The Cost of Not Successfully Implementing
Article 23. PwC estimated potential savings to the government of $65 million
annually, which would be achieved by a representative Inuit work force (through
lower recruitment, retention, social assistance and related costs).5

2. Given the scope of the measures needed and the overlapping federal/territorial
responsibilities in relation to Inuit language, culture and education, NTI believes
that there is considerable room for substantial new public sector investments in
the initiatives above, and others, by both the federal and territorial governments.
Partial funding of these initiatives may be available through the Article 23
implementation fund identified in the May 2015 Settlement Agreement.

3. The statistics cited in this document have been obtained or derived from
various, but mostly Government of Nunavut (GN), sources. NTI has limited
ability to verify the accuracy of these figures, but we believe they are close
enough to operate as a basis for early discussions and planning. We trust the
GN will provide greater accuracy as needed.6

4. A Nunavut Educator IEP is a Government of Nunavut responsibility as part of the

Crowns larger responsibilities under Article 23. This obligation has been in
ongoing breach since 1994. NTI lacks the detailed data, including operational
requirements and projected attrition rates that GN has available, and will need, in
order to develop the short and medium term goals in the form of numerical targets
and timetables for its Inuit Employment Plan for educators. Also required in the
short term is the Department of Educations IEP for departmental staff, including
Regional School Operations RSOs.

5 PwCs forward projection of those government costs to 2017, based on 2003 assumptions, was $82
million annually.
6 An example are the enrolment figures in Table 4 on p. 36 of the Depts 2013-14 Annual Report

citing a total of 9310 Inuit students and 430 non-Inuit students which are totaled as 9728 (rather
than 9740), and the Inuit females, 4550 and males, 4748 which are totaled as 9310 (rather than
9298). NTI recommends that irregularities in GN figures be explained in footnotes to the tables.

12
 Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Rankin Inlet, Nunavut October 18-20, 2016

Resolution#: RSA 16-10-12 Education Act Amendments

Moved by: Raymond Ningeocheak

Seconded by: Levi Barnabas

WHEREAS there is a large and unacceptable gap in education and employment between
Nunavut and southern Canada, and closing that gap means addressing the crisis in
education in Nunavut, where over 70% of Inuit students are not completing high school;
and

WHEREAS a major factor in this educational crisis is the lack of Inuktut language and Inuit
Qaujimajatuqangit in the mostly non-Inuit school system; and

WHEREAS as Inuit, we have the right to control our childrens education, and to educate
our children in Inuktut and in accordance with Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit; as recognized in the
Constitution Act, 1982 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples; and

WHEREAS the Government of Nunavut:

(i) has not fulfilled its obligation under Article 23 of the Nunavut Agreement to
implement an Inuit Employment Plan with timetables for increasing Inuit
educators to 85% in Nunavut schools,
(ii) has not supported local control of education, but instead has centralized
control of education in the Department of Education and in the Regional
School Operations which report to the Department;
(iii) has not adequately funded or trained District Education Authorities (DEAs)
to deliver local control of education;
(iv) has not adequately funded inclusive education;
(v) has not created a school system centered in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit; and
(vi) has not created curricula in Inuktut for all school grades and subjects;

WHEREAS the Government of Nunavut now proposes to amend the 2008 Education Act
and the Inuit Language Protection Act:

(i) to reduce Inuit rights to education in Inuktut; and

 2

(ii) to reduce DEA local control over education, including control over language
of instruction, and give even more authority to the Minister and the
Department;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that NTIs members call on all Members of the
Nunavut Legislative Assembly to oppose the Governments proposed amendments, and
hold the Government to account to implement the NTI proposals below; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members call on the Government of Nunavut:

(1) to keep the Education Act and Inuit Language Protection Act as they are,
and stop its plans to reduce Inuit rights to Inuktut language of instruction,
and Inuit local control over education;

(2) implement a strong Inuit Employment Plan by December 2016, and make
major new funding commitments for training and hiring Inuit teachers and
Inuktut language specialists;

(3) require DOEs Regional School Operations to report to Inuit elected boards,
instead of to the Minister;

(4) properly train and fund DEAs to make them more effective in their
responsibilities for local control of education;

(5) stop the practice of social promotion, and make major new funding
commitments for special needs students, including for data management
and hiring of specialists to diagnose and implement supports for special
needs students;

(6) make Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit a core element of the curriculum in K through

12; and

(7) create curricula in Inuktut for all school grades and subjects.

In Favour: All

Against: None

Abstentions: None

Carried:

Defeated:
 Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Rankin Inlet, Nunavut October 18-20, 2016

Resolution#: RSA 16-10-12 Education Act Amendments

Moved by: Raymond Ningeocheak

Seconded by: Levi Barnabas

WHEREAS there is a large and unacceptable gap in education and employment between
Nunavut and southern Canada, and closing that gap means addressing the crisis in
education in Nunavut, where over 70% of Inuit students are not completing high school;
and

WHEREAS a major factor in this educational crisis is the lack of Inuktut language and Inuit
Qaujimajatuqangit in the mostly non-Inuit school system; and

WHEREAS as Inuit, we have the right to control our childrens education, and to educate
our children in Inuktut and in accordance with Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit; as recognized in the
Constitution Act, 1982 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples; and

WHEREAS the Government of Nunavut:

(i) has not fulfilled its obligation under Article 23 of the Nunavut Agreement to
implement an Inuit Employment Plan with timetables for increasing Inuit
educators to 85% in Nunavut schools,
(ii) has not supported local control of education, but instead has centralized
control of education in the Department of Education and in the Regional
School Operations which report to the Department;
(iii) has not adequately funded or trained District Education Authorities (DEAs)
to deliver local control of education;
(iv) has not adequately funded inclusive education;
(v) has not created a school system centered in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit; and
(vi) has not created curricula in Inuktut for all school grades and subjects;

WHEREAS the Government of Nunavut now proposes to amend the 2008 Education Act
and the Inuit Language Protection Act:

(i) to reduce Inuit rights to education in Inuktut; and

 2

(ii) to reduce DEA local control over education, including control over language
of instruction, and give even more authority to the Minister and the
Department;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that NTIs members call on all Members of the
Nunavut Legislative Assembly to oppose the Governments proposed amendments, and
hold the Government to account to implement the NTI proposals below; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members call on the Government of Nunavut:

(1) to keep the Education Act and Inuit Language Protection Act as they are,
and stop its plans to reduce Inuit rights to Inuktut language of instruction,
and Inuit local control over education;

(2) implement a strong Inuit Employment Plan by December 2016, and make
major new funding commitments for training and hiring Inuit teachers and
Inuktut language specialists;

(3) require DOEs Regional School Operations to report to Inuit elected boards,
instead of to the Minister;

(4) properly train and fund DEAs to make them more effective in their
responsibilities for local control of education;

(5) stop the practice of social promotion, and make major new funding
commitments for special needs students, including for data management
and hiring of specialists to diagnose and implement supports for special
needs students;

(6) make Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit a core element of the curriculum in K through

12; and

(7) create curricula in Inuktut for all school grades and subjects.

In Favour: All

Against: None

Abstentions: None

Carried:

Defeated: