Can we all agree Aurora College board chair Joe HandleySA国际影视传媒檚 resignation signals the polytechnic university concept for Aurora College is dead?
This comes a year after the public board was reinstated, after seven years of wasted staff time and funding.
When consultants first introduced the idea in 2018, deputy ministers jumped on it, convincing ministers, cabinet members and even MLAs to dare to dream rather than determine the hard truth of where the real barriers to educational success were.
Our current education minister may persist in pursuing the polytechnic. Based on HandleySA国际影视传媒檚 assessment, SA国际影视传媒淪he (Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland) just wants me to be positive, almost like a Pollyanna approach to things,SA国际影视传媒� he told Cabin Radio. SA国际影视传媒淎nd I say I canSA国际影视传媒檛 operate that way.SA国际影视传媒�
Handley stated that the Department of Education never truly wanted an independent college, nor is the GNWT committed to funding one properly. Coming from someone who came North from the education system in Manitoba, who headed the NWT's education department in 1985 as deputy minister, and later as education minister in 1999, before becoming finance minister and eventually premier, Handley knows what heSA国际影视传媒檚 talking about.
By cutting $1.8 million from the collegeSA国际影视传媒檚 budget this year, the GNWT demonstrates, with Trump-like transparency, its indifference to educational outcomes for the Dene, Metis and Inuvialuit. The closure of community learning centres was a knife in the heart of education outside Yellowknife.
When I first wrote about the polytechnic in February 2020, I said it was SA国际影视传媒渕ission impossible.SA国际影视传媒� Fixing foundational education problems SA国际影视传媒� particularly the substandard outcomes of the NWTSA国际影视传媒檚 community school system SA国际影视传媒� is crucial before a polytechnic university can be viable. Otherwise, the new institution will be built on a SA国际影视传媒渇alse foundationSA国际影视传媒� of unmet educational needs. I urged readers and decision-makers to recognize that without improved Indigenous education and significantly higher graduation rates in communities, a polytechnic university simply cannot survive.
It strikes me now that Aurora College has come to reflect the experience of many Dene, Metis, and Inuvialuit students in our community schools. Like them, the college has continually struggled with poor funding and crumbling infrastructure, leading to declining enrolment and, ultimately, failure to reach the goal of higher education SA国际影视传媒� all under the heavy hand of an education department unwilling to acknowledge the barriers to Indigenous education.
Now, Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland stands at a crossroads. She can continue with the polytechnic scheme, unconcerned by consequence, for as our former education minister and current Premier R.J. Simpson knows, failure doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 matter if one has enough votes in the assembly. Or Cleveland can choose to rebuild our community education system for the good of the territory and future generations. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a political decision.
If she chooses the polytechnic path, sheSA国际影视传媒檒l need to find someone willing to accept they can accomplish nothing meaningful as chair of the Aurora College board SA国际影视传媒攕omeone content to pad their resume and enjoy the prestige in the face of persistent failure. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 been done before.
But if she chooses to make the college truly work, she can start by presenting her cabinet colleagues with a clear picture of education in the North. Show them accurate data on graduation rates, attendance and real outcomes for students. Only when the department accepts that what theySA国际影视传媒檙e doing now isnSA国际影视传媒檛 working can they begin to build a true foundation for a future Aurora Polytechnic University of which all Northerners can be proud. They can start by launching cohorts of Dene, Metis and Inuvialuit teachers.
The answers are out there SA国际影视传媒� we just have to ask parents in the communities how to make education work for them and their kids. We must listen. We must make a plan. And we must scrounge for resources and funding SA国际影视传媒� as a government with a $2.5-billion budget, not as an under-resourced NGO SA国际影视传媒� and begin to rebuild our community education system.
