Hay River Dene Adult Basic Education Program
Sunrise Learning Centre
Box 3060
Hay River Dene Reserve, Northwest Territories
X0E 1G4
Tel: (867) 874-3107
Fax: (867) 874-3229

Program Mission & Objectives:

In the words of the program instructor, the goal of the program is "to prepare learners to attain higher levels of education and employment". At the request of the Band Council, in addition to math and English, reading and writing at all levels, the 1998 academic year will feature a program in Office Procedures. The course is managed by the Hay River Dene Band and staff, who have hired an Aboriginal instructor and found funding from the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT). The program is supervised and accredited by Aurora College which also provides the curriculum. The Hay River Dene have been running some form of upgrading and skills development program since the 1970s, but the course content changes year to year, and is defined in conjunction with Aurora College, based on the skills that the Band would like to see developed. Learners receive a training allowance from the Band’s adult training fund. The course combines group instruction with one-on-one tutoring and teaching, where needed. All learners in the program are initially placed using the Canadian Adult Achievement Tests (CAAT) in order to get a sense of their reading and writing abilities.

Program Features:

• The program is employment oriented and combines general English and math upgrading with a core Office Procedures curriculum including records management, keyboarding, word-processing, job-preparation and career development.

• There is one full-time instructor for 12 full-time learners.