Our Plan for Education

The Yukon Party is announcing our effective, achievable plans to help ensure Yukon students can meet their full potential while supporting the educators and school communities that are foundational to their learning and their success.

We will conduct a comprehensive overhaul of the Department of Education so that students, educators, school boards, school councils, and parents can focus on student success.

The Yukon Party will prioritize student mental health and well-being by:

• Reflecting the increasing mental health challenges students face by empowering educators, families and students with access to mental health supports.
• Disallowing personal smartphone use by students in schools to minimize distractions and the damaging effects of social media, except in circumstances such as devices used for monitoring health.
• Partnering with the Child Development Centre (CDC) to increase resources and reduce wait times, including timely support for children and families, and exploring enhanced services in Yukon communities.
• Reducing red tape to ensure that student support resources are going to those students who need them, rather than being delayed by bureaucratic processes.
• Ensuring that appropriate supports are in place for students with unique health care needs, including enhancing the availability of medical educational assistants.
• Establishing options for the delivery of therapeutic supports and spaces which meet the needs of students.
• Partnering with the Yukon Association of Education Professionals, school boards and councils to develop a Teacher Recruitment Strategy which is timely and efficient.
• Working with Yukon First Nations, municipalities and the private sector to develop staff housing options for educators in communities which offer no market housing, to match each recruit to a home when a job is offered.
• Seeking opportunities to better align policies for staff housing with the availability of private market housing.

A Yukon Party government will fundamentally realign the Department of Education’s focus on the classroom to empower teachers, support families and ensure students across the territory have the tools, resources and safe learning environments they need and deserve to succeed by:

• Reviewing the Department of Education and launching an overhaul of how the department delivers support to the education system.
• Reflecting the changes to the landscape of education in the territory, including the development of the Yukon First Nations School Board and the need for more support in rural schools.
• Prioritizing the delivery of frontline supports that students, educators and families need to ensure student success, including education assistants, learning assistance teachers and other student supports.
• Focusing on the fundamentals of education, including emphasizing math, science and literacy as the building blocks of learning.

The Yukon Party will also lead transparent and consistent capital planning by:

• Cancelling the planned construction of a replacement for Ecole Whitehorse Elementary School on the Takhini Education Reserve and consulting with the school community to consider alternate locations or options for the next school in Whitehorse.
• Including rural schools in the capital planning of the territory’s schools to ensure rural Yukon schools are no longer left behind.
• Addressing the need for additional high school spaces in Whitehorse.
• Creating a robust plan for ensuring schools do not fall into unsafe levels of repair in order to support safe learning environments.

The Yukon Party will also promote trades training and alternative learning models by:

• Examining opportunities for expanding apprenticeship to other careers and occupations and identifying how to promote apprenticeship education as a valuable alternative to a degree program.
• Considering the development of a Skills Development Fund with Yukon First Nations, labour unions and industry organizations to help Yukon workers gain in-demand skills and practical hands-on experience, modelled on successful provincial programs.
• Developing hands-on programs to connect students with local industries to foster pride in practical skills and entrepreneurship.
• Building on the success of the Union Training and Innovation Program, led by the federal government, and exploring how to support further apprenticeship training, innovation and partnerships in the Red Seal trades.
• Exploring opportunities to expand the Student Training and Employment Program to secondary students in the skilled trades.

A Yukon Party government will support early learning and childcare by:

• Maintaining the current Universal Child Care Program with funding support from the Government of Canada.
• Working with childcare program operators to address issues related to their ongoing financial sustainability in relation to the Yukon Early Learning and Child Care Funding Program.
• Working with the early childcare educator community to complete regulations pursuant to the Early Learning and Child Care Act.

The Yukon Party will also support Yukon University by:

• Working with Yukon University administration to ensure it is meeting the demands of the economy, including providing opportunities for trades and training in other vital sectors such as childcare, technology and resource development.
• Continuing to support the Centre for Innovation in Mining in providing employment and career training to best match the Yukon’s labour market needs.