Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the presenters today. This is a very interesting discussion. I'm from the Northwest Territories, and I certainly agree with a number of things being said today, especially on the investment that is required for more resources.
I know that in the Northwest Territories, and I think it applies to Nunavut and Yukon, we have almost a two-tiered type of education system. Regional centres have a certain level of education, and most of the students who graduate can go off to university or college. However, if you live in a smaller community, it's a challenge going from grade 12 to university. It's pretty much impossible without some upgrading. A lot of frustrated students drop out when they get to grade 10 or grade 11. That's when they find out they need to do another two years of upgrading after 12 years. It's because there are not enough resources for the proper courses so that they can get into the big institutions.
We have a challenge with attendance because we have a challenge with housing. We have so many students who will go to school but who are falling asleep. They couldn't sleep all night, because there are so many people in the unit they're staying in.
Of course, we don't have the tutor support that is needed. If your parents don't have the higher-level education, they can't provide you with assistance with your homework. It becomes overwhelming for a lot of students. That's what I hear.
Of course, the sun is up until 10 o'clock right now in Northwest Territories. Kids don't want to go to bed. By next month it will be 24 hours a day of sunlight. The sunshine is part of our challenge to keep young people in school.
There are other things as well. There are no facilities in our communities for sports programs. A lot of children and young people just get so frustrated. When they do participate, they can't compete with the larger centres. By grade 9 there are hardly any girls playing sports. The girls are the ones who you really notice are dropping off by grade 9. If any girl wants to play sports, they have to do it on an individual basis.
There's also the culture shock of going into a larger city or a different part of the country where there are a lot of people. For many of them, discrimination is something they don't experience in a small community, because they're the majority. When they go to a larger centre, they become the minority.
There are lots of things. I'm hearing that we need investment, and I totally agree. I think we need a navigator program. We don't have staff housing, so a lot of teachers don't want to come to our communities. We should do a visit of some of the accommodations that some of the teachers are staying in. I don't have to tell the witnesses, but you'd be shocked for sure, colleagues.
I want to ask all of you to talk a little bit about what we need in the communities for investment in order to get to the level where we can start looking at post-secondary. In my communities, too many don't make it to that level.
Perhaps you could start.