The quality of education for Inuit youth in Nunavut is nowhere near the level being provided to students in the south, especially with all the social passing taking place in the territory, said Arviat Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr.

The bottom line, he said, is that this approach to education is simply not working for Inuit.

SA国际影视传媒淐urrently, with education in Nunavut, you get your Grade 12 but most universities won't accept you unless you get some kind of upgrade,SA国际影视传媒� said Savikataaq.

SA国际影视传媒淩ecently, at the Nunavut Association of Municipalities annual general meeting, we made a resolution to get our education system audited, in terms of the level of the education as compared to the rest of the country.

SA国际影视传媒淚f you take Grade 10 in Arviat, for example, what does that compare to in southern Canada? What grade level are they actually at nationally with a Grade 10 earned in Arviat?SA国际影视传媒�

Savikataaq said when Nunavut was created, everyone envisioned all Inuit working. But, in order to achieve that, Nunavut must provide a better quality of education.

He said everyone needs to step up a bit, including parents sending their kids to school every day.

SA国际影视传媒淥nce that happens, the education system has to also step up and provide quality education. When all this residential school stuff happened, they were getting a better education than we are right now.

SA国际影视传媒淚f you notice, all the people who went through that system have good jobs and are doing well in life because of the education system they went through.

SA国际影视传媒淣ow, with what we have, everyone passes. I don't mean that I want to see people fail, but I want to see people move up when they earn it. For example, people who are in charge of Nunavut, would they want to see their loved ones seeing a doctor who just showed up for classes and was given his (or her) doctor's certificate just for showing up and not really learning?

SA国际影视传媒淚 bet that answer is a, No!SA国际影视传媒�

Savikataaq said Inuit want to take care of their own people. They have to step up now, so that they're not dependent on others but relying more on each other.

But, he said, in order to get to that stage, the education system needs to be improved right from kindergarten on up.

SA国际影视传媒淚t's not an overnight fix that will just happen. It's going to take awhile, a generation or two, before we can get caught up but it is possible. Look at what our older folks went through. they went from, basically, living off the land to the residential schools and learned the English language in a very short span while receiving a quality education.

SA国际影视传媒淔rom my own observations, when I look at the level some students are supposed to be at, I'm no teacher, but just common sense tells you the level they are given is not the level they are actually at.

SA国际影视传媒淚'm not against anyone from the south. In fact, I'm very grateful to the southerners who are up here providing essential services, such as doctors, nurses, pilots, teachers, etc.

SA国际影视传媒淗owever, I'd like to see more Inuit in those roles. But, in order for them to get there, we have to start giving them a better quality of education so Inuit can build up Inuit. And we need to start now!SA国际影视传媒�