Nunavut government to track school violence with new tool

Nunavut's Department of Education is working on a system to keep track of student violence — both toward other students, or toward teachers. 

While there's no timeline for when the tool will launch, the government of Nunavut plans to also release new school violence reporting forms at the same time. 

The tracking system is meant to fill a gap that now exists.

Last month, in response to an access to information request filed in May, the Department of Education told CBC News that violent incidents in schools are not consistently tracked, so it couldn't share valid statistics on violence in schools. It said any data it could provide wouldn't be accurate.  

Last week, a letter from the department was posted by the legislative assembly. In the letter, the department shared its plans for a tracking system with Arviat North-Whale Cove MLA John Main. 

The Kivalliq politician asked in the fall for written information about school violence across Nunavut.  

Main said he plans to talk about violence and security measures within schools in the coming winter sitting. 

After talking with parents in his constituency, Main said he believes school violence is an extension of a persistent bullying problem. 

"At the root you are talking about unwanted behaviour in the school. How do we curb that unwanted behaviour? How do we support students who maybe are acting out, or who are traumatized? That is the huge challenge that our school staff are dealing with," Main said.  

He wanted the department to speak about trends or similarities it saw in school violence. 

"The real interesting aspect to it, in my mind, would be the trends," he said. "Do these numbers represent an increase? Do these numbers represent a stable trend decreasing? Without further data to really see where things are going, it's tough to analyze the numbers." 

Accurate, consistent data on school violence

The department said the new tracking tool for violence and security is designed to work within the student information system now used by teachers and principals.

"This tool will ensure that reported data is collected accurately and consistently across Nunavut," the department said. 

The system is being made through input from the Nunavut Teachers' Association, the union that represents teachers in the territory. 

The association told CBC News it is unable to talk about the violence tracking system while the project is being negotiated. 

At recent hearings for Bill 25 to amend the education and language acts, the union's president John Fanjoy said school violence is a major concern for teacher retention.