I'd say that as far as the success rates are concerned, what we find is that especially for younger people, when they're coming into our programs, it's important for them, to be honest, to have a choice. There some students who are really ready to go on and have post-secondary experience—in our case, in Whitehorse, where they might pursue a degree or a diploma program. We also really need to be mindful about programs that need to be available in communities. Rebecca spoke of the teacher education program being available in so many of the Nunavut communities.
This year we went around from community to community really trying to understand and hear their priorities in post-secondary education. What they said to us, what the people who attended our sessions said, is that in some cases, such as business administration or if they want to pursue a social work degree, they seem to prefer to actually go in and take the courses out of Whitehorse. What we heard in some cases, such as in the schools, is that teacher education right now....
It was only through the pandemic that we started to make that available by distance.
What we heard is that in some communities the teacher shortage has become so acute that people who haven't finished their full teaching qualification are hired as teachers; some of our students are hired as teachers. If we pull those students out and insist that they come to Whitehorse, they have to pull their families with them and then they're pulling children from their school. You're actually not only challenging the individuals who make that journey to a larger centre, but you're also compromising, potentially, the success rate of their families and their children.
What we find has worked incredibly well is that when we know that we have programs—again, such as the teacher education program.... We also offer our first nations or indigenous governance program by distance so that a student, no matter where they are in the territory, can pursue that degree and stay and work in their home community. We've seen that is a successful model.
But I'd have to say there's no easy, one solution.