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UPDATE: Education Minister meets with Northland School Division to discuss rural education

Last Updated Jun 27, 2019 at 5:51 am MDT

PHOTO. RMWB Council meets on June 25, 2019, to hear from community leaders from rural communities like Fort Chipewyan and Conklin about the education crisis gripping those areas. MYMCMURRAY.COM/Phil Wood.

Northland School Division’s (NSD) request for support from council to address an “education crisis” in rural areas of the region has garnered the attention of the education minister.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange met with leaders of Northland School Division on June 26.

The meeting gave the school division the opportunity to clarify the situation that was brought to council on June 25.

Council heard that there will be no graduates for the 2018-2019 school year and at least 12 teachers were leaving the area because of housing concerns and poor work conditions.

Mayor Scott called said the situation is unacceptable.

“We need to make sure that our kids get a great education, we need to make sure we’re advocating for the kids throughout our region, and we’re going to advocate hard.”

Other rural communities in the region face similar attrition and graduation issues in their schools.

 

A concerned citizen from Conklin said his grandchildren failed tests because textbooks left out important components.

Similar reports come from schools in Janvier and Anzac.

LaGrange said in a statement that she’s concerned about the situation.

While significant improvements have been made by the school division, high teacher turnover demonstrates that we still need to find solutions to the additional challenges facing the education system in these two communities.”

The minister said her office has reached out to Mayor Scott to schedule a meeting to see the challenges first-hand.

She said she’s also reached out to the Minister of Indigenous Service to keep him informed.