Nunavik school board working to bring post-secondary education to the region

Samuel Wat · CBC News

· Posted: May 26, 2025 4:11 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Nunavik's schoolhouse board, Kativik Ilisarniliriniq (KI), has partnered with Montreal's John Abbott College to bring immoderate post-secondary courses to the region.

There's presently a 10-day sewing arts workshop, and precocious an Inuit media course. They are worthy conscionable a fistful of credits, but it's a commencement for Phebe Bentley, KI's manager of post-secondary pupil services.

There is presently nary assemblage oregon assemblage field located successful Nunavik. In contrast, all 3 territories and Labrador person astatine slightest 1 post-secondary institution. Under the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, KI doesn't have the administrative jurisdiction to supply post-secondary education.

"We're hoping astatine the extremity to person a afloat program, but close present we're benignant of exploring and seeing what works," Bentley said. 

Roughly 4 per cent of Nunavimmiut person completed post-secondary education, according to KI, and astir opportunities for grooming for Nunavimmiut close present are offered done employers.

"If you alteration employers, past you whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium capable to proceed … truthful post-secondary acquisition successful Nunavik is not accessible to younker oregon to the wide public," Bentley said. 

Salluit's Andrew Papigatuk, who present lives successful Montreal, was 1 of the students successful the Inuit media people held earlier this period successful Inukjuak. 

"It opened my caput to limitless opportunities … I'm hoping successful the adjacent future, much radical volition beryllium seeing much of my stuff," helium said.

Even portion successful precocious school, Papigatuk knew helium wanted to enactment successful video production. He moved to Montreal respective years agone to beryllium a video editor, wherever helium was capable to summation skills connected the job.

"I deliberation it would beryllium large if much opportunities to bid different radical were offered, which is wherefore I'm wholly supporting courses similar this," helium said.

Students heading southbound for further education

A 2022 report from an autarkic task unit connected Northern post-secondary acquisition elaborate a bid of barriers for Nunavimmiut who privation to pursue post-secondary education — with relocation being the astir important one.

"It's a full antithetic situation for them. They don't person household astir anymore. They're not successful their ain situation … that assemblage feeling is not arsenic beardown down present than it is up north," Andrew Papigatuk said. 

In 2019, the national authorities approved a 10-year fund to enactment the Inuit post-secondary acquisition strategy. Some of that backing went towards sponsoring students from their communities done region learning. 

But the federally commissioned task force found that online learning didn't enactment good successful Nunavik, with galore students dealing with poor net connectivity and a deficiency of survey abstraction owed to overcrowded homes.

"It is simply a basal contented of determination inequity that undermines immoderate further exploration of region education," the study reads.

"Until determination is reliable, fast, affordable and accessible net passim Nunavik, region acquisition volition proceed to beryllium functionally inaccessible to Nunavik students."

Post-secondary instauration successful Nunavik a longer-term goal

A 2023 study, commissioned by Quebec's Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEQ), identified 2 models of post-secondary institutions successful Nunavik — which would dwell of a main campus, positive outer campuses and learning centres for different communities. 

KI besides conducted assemblage consultations, with the study present being finalized. A cardinal taxable truthful far, says Phebe Bentley, is the request for a post-secondary acquisition exemplary that's culturally applicable to Nunavik — and not conscionable a "cut-and-paste" of models successful different parts of Quebec. 

"I deliberation overwhelmingly radical privation an acquisition strategy that is rooted successful Inuit civilization and language, but they besides privation it to beryllium paired with a grade oregon a diploma wherever they tin enactment successful today's society," she said. 

• Inuit Nunangat University 1 measurement person to becoming a reality

• 'I miss our onshore a lot': Inuit students studying southbound connected what a assemblage could mean successful the North

The task unit study recovered a deficiency of Inuktitut teachers to beryllium a increasing concern, and that worries Bentley too, though she believes caller backing from the provincial authorities for a teaching certificate tin help. 

"If we truly privation to decolonize and we privation our connection to proceed to thrive, particularly successful this integer property wherever there's a menace to indigenous languages … I deliberation conscionable to amusement them the value [of that] and helping them and supporting them  … that's each that we tin do."

For now, the extremity for Bentley is to get KI jurisdiction nether their modern treaty to unfastened up a full-time post-secondary programme successful Nunavik wrong the adjacent decade, arsenic she believes already there's existing infrastructure successful the region for that. 

A afloat post-secondary institution, however, is simply a longer-term goal, but she is optimistic.

"That involves a batch much backing … but we already person immoderate options successful place."