Residents decry Aurora College plan to close 19 community learning centres in N.W.T.

Aurora College's plan to close its 19 community learning centres across the N.W.T. is not sitting well with some residents who say the decision will have lasting impacts, especially for those in smaller communities.

The college announced the move last week, saying it has been seeing low enrolment at its community learning centres and that its "current delivery model ... has become prohibitively expensive, outdated, and ineffective."

Sharon Lafferty from Fort Resolution, N.W.T. credits the local learning centre there with giving her the opportunity and confidence to pursue higher education and build a career.

Lafferty says that without access to upgrading programs in her community, she wouldn't have been able to take the next step.

"I would never be where I am today," she said. "I graduated with a certificate in administration, and then I went on to employment, where I remained with the First Nation, tribal and regional government only."

Lafferty says having local educational opportunities made all the difference for her and her peers. At the time, in the '90s, she says about 20 people from Fort Resolution pursued higher education through Aurora College programs, enrolling in programs like social work, teaching, and linguistics. 

"All of us graduated," she said. "We graduated because we had the opportunity of taking local education first, exposing us to routine."

Lafferty says she's worried that without those community learning centres, young people won't have the same opportunities she did.

She says it's important for youth to have a pathway to higher education, especially in small communities where students are already at an academic disadvantage compared to those in larger centres.

Lafferty would like to see local students be engaged in the decision-making process when it comes to their education options.

"We haven't really listened to the youth, what they're thinking about this, and I'm sure that they would like to speak," she said. "Because there's no opportunities for them once the doors are closed locally."

Dennis Nelner of Fort Simpson, N.W.T., shares Lafferty's concerns. His children have taken courses at the local learning centre and he believes the closures will cut off access to essential educational services for small communities.

He says the college's decision was made with little input from communities.

"They made it in a bubble without talking to anybody," he said. "Nobody knew this was coming down the road. And there were never any people from the board showing up here in the community at all."

Aurora College has cited low enrolment and high costs as the reasons for shutting down the learning centres, but Nelner says the focus should be on increasing enrolment, not cutting services.

He says investing in new programs tailored to local industries, such as the planned highway development and zinc mine, could help sustain the centres.

"Industry set a parameter in saying, 'Yeah, we need heavy equipment operators by 2026,'" he said. "I approach a [community learning centre] here, and they're all in favour. Let's do this. Not even a week later, they're shutting them down," he said.

Nelner says that students will be forced to look outside the territory for training options, meaning they may have to leave their communities or miss out on local job opportunities altogether. He says that instead of closing learning centres, more work should be done to strengthen investments in education for northerners.

"We should be training tradespeople," he said. "For all the activities that are going to happen in this region, right? But we're not. We're not even on the same page."

Nelner says the closures are part of a broader pattern of under-investment in education outside of Yellowknife that will have long-term impacts, and that leaders need to step up before it's too late.