Graduates will fill principal and vice-principal positions across northern territory
A group of Nunavut women are the first to receive masters of education degrees through a new, Nunavut-based University of Prince Edward Island program.
The three-year program is the first graduate-level program ever to be offered in the northern territory.
While there are more than 100 Inuit teachers with undergraduate degrees teaching in Nunavut, the majority of principals and vice-principals come from other regions in the country.
The university offered the program so more Nunavut educators could begin to fill these senior positions in Nunavut schools.
The 21 women graduated on the same day that Nunavut's revamped, homegrown Education Act came into force. The act puts more emphasis on teaching Inuit culture and language in public schools across the territory.
Education officials in the territory hope having more Inuit in leadership positions in the schools will encourage more students to graduate high school. Only about one-third of students completed Grade 12 in the territory in the 2007-08 school year.
