Yukon education department faces backlash over plans for another review
CBC
A new independent review of Yukon’s education system is receiving pushback from advocates.
Tosh Southwick, who worked on a 2023 progress report, said she "rolled her eyes" at the news of another review.
"I think everybody in this territory could read any one of the many, many education reports that basically say the same thing over and over and over again," Southwick said, of the review launched on Wednesday. "What we need is not more reports. We need action."
Ted Hupe, president of the territory's teachers union, the Yukon Association of Education Professionals, echoed Southwick's concerns.
Auditor General reports from 2009 and 2019 flagged persistent achievement gaps, particularly among rural, Indigenous and special needs students — issues critics say remain unaddressed.
However, Education Minister Scott Kent defended the review, saying it fulfilled a key campaign promise.
He said the four-member panel's extensive education expertise will ensure the review is “thorough [and] inclusive." The former auditor general’s reports will “play an important role,” he added.
The panel’s final report is scheduled to be out by year end with interim reports in June and September.
Beyond the scope of the review, critics are also targeting the education department’s structure.
Hupe pointed to the growing disconnect: the expanding education department bureaucracy and the shrinking workload, with the First Nations School Board now managing a third of the territory’s schools.
“It has become such a big bureaucracy or a big organization that they've become more and more distant from the actual product, which is the students,” Hupe said.
Southwick agreed that the current structure is problematic.
“We know that the Department of Education is bloated and that we need to shift the prioritization away from the department into the schools,” she said.
Unlike provincial models, the Yukon’s education department plays a dual role as both policymaker and school board.
Eight casinos across southwest B.C. have been sold to First Nations in the last two years, with the province's gambling scene set to be reshaped as a result.
Hamilton hosts the Junos Sunday, and the musical awards show is bringing tourists, musicians, concerts and a ton of themed events to the city this week.
The multi-million-dollar deal at the heart of a high-profile fight between the Canadian government and one of the world’s biggest carmakers contains multiple clauses about the company’s footprint in Ontario, according to a copy obtained by CBC Windsor.
In recent months, Calgary police have carried out three day-long safety blitzes, parading out dozens of officers to flood an area with their increased presence — at least, temporarily.
A national organization is seeking people with experience in Canada's forestry sector as they put together a working group that will examine ways to improve forest recovery following wildfires.
Ella Heyder is bracing for a breakup, even though she already moved out decades ago.
Shawne Hopkins never saw it coming.
Politicians return to Queen’s Park Monday for a shortened spring session, as Premier Doug Ford prepares to unveil his eight budget amid heightened global economic uncertainty.
Despite a recent announcement that a water supply pipeline will be build in Oneida Nation of the Thames, some members of the community say that's no excuse for taking water for granted.
As scandal has swirled around former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, questions and curiosity have also focused on his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
Friday may have been the first day of spring, but winter storms are not over yet for Newfoundland.
While we officially welcomed spring last week, an incoming system will be a reminder that snow is still very much part of the new season, especially early on.
The future of a national historic site in Fredericton is up for discussion at meetings across New Brunswick in the next few weeks as the Anglican diocese considers what to do about costly repairs needed at Christ Church Cathedral.