The Nunavut government has the power to make Inuktitut the language of instruction in Nunavut’s schools, an Akitsiraq law school student told a panel of MLAs reviewing Bill 1, the proposed Education Act, this week. The law designates English as the official language of instruction. The current educational program allows for Inukitut instruction only up to Grade 3, with English as the language of instruction thereafter. The Inuit wish to protect their language and expand its use in schools from kindergarten to Grade 12, in order to offer an education that promotes and encompasses their cultural values. Presenters at the meeting, which took place at the Anglican Parish Hall in Iqualuit, emphasized this "last chance" message. If the bill is passed as it is, it will set in law the inferiority of the Inuktitut language in the territory’s education system. Meanwhile Nunavut's Minister of Culture, Languages, Elders and Youth, Jack Anawak, has signed a multi-million dollar agreement to bring $1.1 million for Inuktikut language programs to Nunavut.
