Nunavut Education Dept. dials back proposed changes to local DEA powers
Issues under debate include school admissions, calendars and oversight of inclusive schooling
Nunavut's Department of Education is now proposing fewer changes when it comes to powers of local District Education Authorities.
The department is looking to establish a territory-wide District Education Authorities council that would replace the existing Coalition of Nunavut DEAs and take on additional responsibilities.
- Nunavut's Education Act review suggests dramatic changes
- Nunavut DEAs worried proposed education reforms would strip them of powers
After consultations, the government is now proposing the DEAs retain some of the powers it was initially planning to take away.
It now proposes DEAs retain discretion on student admissions and registrations, selection of language models for bilingual education, and the ability to trigger reviews on inclusive schooling decisions on behalf of parents and students.
DEAs would also have a choice of either providing or not providing early childhood education programs, with the department able to step in and provide it should the DEA choose not to, and the choice of school calendars will be shared between DEAs and the department.
Education Minister Paul Quassa said the proposed DEA council would answer directly to MLAs and would be subject to access to information requests.
"They will have more accountability in terms of the finances that they use and they will have more staff to ensure that issues that are coming out from local district education authorities are being dealt with," said Quassa.
He said if all goes well the council should be in place by 2018.
with files from Kieran Oudshoorn