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EducationEarlyChildhood9TuesdayJune102014WelcomeDeneNationassemblydelegatesWelcomeDeneNationassemblydelegatesFortSmithisproudtohostthe44thDeneNationalAssembly.Themayorandcouncilandmembersofthecommunitywelcomeyou.Pleaseenjoyyourtimeinourlovelytown.Consideritasyourown.FortSmithisproudtohostthe44thDeneNationalAssembly.Themayorandcouncilandmembersofthecommunitywelcomeyou.Pleaseenjoyyourtimeinourlovelytown.Consideritasyourown.-MayorB.G.BradBrakeandFortSmithTownCouncil-MayorB.G.BradBrakeandFortSmithTownCouncilGNWTdefendsterritory-widejr.kindergartenMinisterpromisesextrafundingtounderstaffedschoolsByMARIACHURCHThedepartmentofEduca-tionCultureandEmploymentECEisdefendingitscontro-versialrolloutofjuniorkin-dergartenthisfallafterbeinghitwithcriticismoverlackoffundingandoverlapwiththefederalAboriginalHeadStartprogram.GabrielaEggenhoferdeputyministerofECErespondedtoconcernswithamediabrienglastweek.Thoseconcernsareprimarilycenteredonthedeci-siontostretchexistingfundingtocoverthenewagegroup.By2016theadditionofschoolingfor4year-oldsacrosstheterritorywillcomeatanestimatedcostof7.4millionannually.Thatcostwillbeab-sorbedbytheNWTdistricteducationauthoritiesandwillbefeltmostinYellowknifetheonlyjurisdictionintheterritorywhereenrollmentisincreasing.InlateMayapetitionwassentfromresidentsinYellow-knifetotheirelectedofcialsexpressingconcernabouttheimpactjuniorkindergartenwillhaveonthelocaledu-cationbudget.ThoughYel-lowknifeisnotgettingjuniorkindergartenuntil2016itwillhelpbankroll23smallerNWTcommunitiesintherstandsecondyear.Anyreductionstoeducationfundingisunacceptablethepetitionargued.Iunderstandthatinnova-tionandprogressarepara-mountinlong-termeducationplanningbutIwillnotacceptanyreductionintheexistingqualityofeducationintheNWTitstated.AccordingtoEggenhoferadecreaseinECEfundingtoYellowknifeoverthenexttwoyearsofimplementationisaccuratebutfailstotakeintoaccountyearthree.AbsolutelyinyearoneandtwothetwoYellowknifeed-ucationauthoritieswillhavereductionstothefundinginordertoenableeveryoneintheNWTtointroducejuniorkindergarten.IwanttonoteitsnotjusttheYellowknifeeducationauthoritieswhowillcontributetothepotluckifyouwillshesaid.Inyearthreeintheyearthattheyactuallyruntheprogramandofferittherewillbefundingthattheywillhaveaccessto.AccordingtoGNWTesti-matesYellowknifeseduca-tionauthoritieswillreceiveanetinjectionofbetween500000tomorethan1millioninadditionalfund-inginyearthreeoftheroll-out.Thosenumbersaccountforreductionsexperiencedinthersttwoyears.Thisesti-mateincludesECEMinisterJacksonLaffertysrecentan-nouncementthatthedepart-mentwillofferextrafund-ingtoeducationauthoritieswherestudentpopulationsexceedtheterritorialgoalof16studentstooneteacher.SinceannouncingthejuniorkindergartenrolloutinFeb-ruarytheGNWThasalsore-verseditsdecisiontomandatetheSeptemberimplementationofjuniorkindergarteninall29smallcommunities.Asaresultsixcommunitieschosetobackoutbringingthetotaldownto23schoolsthatwillofferthecurriculumthisfall.FiveofthosecommunitiesareundertheTlichogovern-mentwhichisinthemiddleofdevelopingaregionalplanforearlyeducationEggen-hofersaid.Thegovernmentprojectsaround600childrenwillentertheeducationsysteminjuniorkindergarten.Juniorkindergartenvs.AboriginalHeadStartAnotherconcernEggen-hoferbroughtupistheques-tionofjuniorkindergartencompetingwiththefederalAboriginalHeadStartpro-gramwhichisofferedto3and4year-oldsincommu-nitiesacrossCanada.ThedeputyministersaidECEhasbeenengagingallstakeholdersofjuniorkin-dergartenincludingthoserunningtheHeadStartpro-gramforyears.Theirsisoptionalandtheirsisfree.Oursisoptionalandoursisfree.Therealityisnoteveryparentcanaffordtopayanywherebetween750and1000amonthforachild.Ithinkprincipallywearenottakingadissimilarapproachshesaid.Aswellthejuniorkinder-gartencurriculumwillnotbeforeigntoAboriginalstudentsasitsbasedontheDeneKedeandInuuqatigiitcurriculumsusedacrosstheNWTfocusedonAboriginalrelationshipsandcultureEgg-enhofersaid.ImveryconfidentthatwhatwehaveproducedhereshouldntbesomethingthatisatoddswiththetenetsofAb-originalHeadStartshesaid.Allwearedoingisprovidingmorechoicestoparents.Noneoftheparentsneedtoaccessanyoftheseprogramsiftheydontchoosetobutwethinkitisimportantthatparentshavechoicesavailabletothem.EggenhofernotedtheAb-originalHeadStartprogramisonlyofferedineightsmallcommunitiesintheNWTwhilein10ofthecommuni-tiestherearenoearlychild-hoodprogramsoffered.PhotocourtesyofGNWTMinisterJacksonLaffertypictureherewithayoungstudentfromTulitaplanstointroducejuniorkindergartenin23NWTcommunitiesthisfall.