The Department of Education has released a progress report to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts of the Yukon Legislative Assembly regarding its ongoing work to transform and reimagine the Yukon’s school system.

The document provides summary updates on actions the department has taken to address the recommendations in the 2019 Report of the Auditor General of Canada on Kindergarten through Grade 12 education in the Yukon.

The department accepted all of these recommendations.

“The Department of Education welcomes this opportunity to provide the Standing Committee on Public Accounts with an update on our work over the past year to reimagine the Yukon’s education system,” Education Minister Jeanie McLean said Wednesday.

“Together with our partners in education, we are creating school environments that are safe, inclusive and build on student strengths.

“Our mutual goal is creating a better future where every child belongs, connects and thrives.

“Education is also a key area of our reconciliation efforts, and we continue to work towards decolonizing our educational system,” McLean added.

“I am proud to say substantial work has already been completed and more is underway in this new chapter of education in the territory that ensures our education system empowers all Yukon students.”

The 2019 Auditor General’s report said, “Overall, we found that the Yukon Department of Education did not know whether its programs met the needs of students, particularly those with special needs and those from Yukon First Nations.

“We found that the department still had not identified the underlying causes of long-standing gaps in student outcomes between First Nations and other Yukon students.

“These gaps included a lower high school completion rate for First Nations students compared with other students,” the report added.

AG officials had a similar finding in an audit report published in 2009.

“We also found that the department had not identified the underlying causes of the long-standing gaps in student outcomes between students in rural and urban schools,” the report said.

“Until the department understands the root causes driving these gaps, and the gaps in student outcomes between First Nations and other Yukon students, it has no way of knowing whether it is focusing its time and resources on where they are most needed.”

With specific respect to inclusive education, Auditor General’s office reported, “we found that the department did not monitor its delivery of services and supports to students who had special needs, nor did it monitor these students’ outcomes.

“As a result, the department did not know whether its approach to inclusive education was working, or whether it needed more focused attention on particular schools, groups, teachers, or subject areas.

“Half of the teachers who responded to our survey felt that they did not have the supports they needed to deliver inclusive education, and two thirds of those same teachers reported that they lacked sufficient training to do so.”

In addition, “and of equal importance,” Auditor General’s report said, “the department has responsibilities and commitments to provide education programs that reflect Yukon First Nations culture and languages.

“Despite this, we found that the department did not do enough to create a partnership with Yukon First Nations that would allow it to fully develop and deliver such programs.

“We also found that the department did not provide enough direction, oversight, and support to help schools deliver culturally inclusive programming.”

Since 2019, the government said Wednesday, the department has launched a number of initiatives to address the gaps in the Yukon’s education system and to improve student outcomes. These include:

• Launching the Universal Child Care model.

• Launching enhanced early kindergarten and full-day kindergarten in most rural communities.

• Working with the Chiefs Committee on Education to establish the First Nation School Board.

• Finalizing a Collaboration Framework with Yukon First Nations.

• Completing the Review of Inclusive and Special Education.

• Advancing the Reimagining Inclusive and Special Education (RISE) work plan, which was developed with partners.

• Launching the Ready-to-Learn Schools initiative.

• Creating a data-sharing agreement with Yukon First Nations and releasing publicly available student data reports.

• Initiating work and engagement on a Student Outcomes Strategy, which will look at root causes of poor student outcomes, develop targets and evaluate progress on closing gaps.