Due to the current evacuation status of several NWT communities, the GNWT has announced the likely interruption of the 2023-24 school year.
According to the GNWT, many schools in the NWT were scheduled to reopen for teachers starting August 21st, and August 28th for students.
“There are likely to be changes to school calendars, and in some instances a delayed start to the school year,” Director of Corporate, Municipal, and Community Affairs Jennifer Young says.
Additionally, the GNWT says online learning is not being pursued at this time. Deputy Minister of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment John MacDonald explains the instance is ‘vastly different’ than when the education system was dealing with COVID-19.
“School employees like teachers are in communities across the country and in some instances some are working and living in camp sites, hotels, complex situations, so virtual learning is not being considered at this time,”
MacDonald adds that a return to school depends largely on emergency response measures and the effectiveness of fire suppression efforts to establish a timeline for a potential return to class.
