A comprehensive list of education reform recommendations and research was released this morning for public review and reaction.

Education Minister Patrick Rouble said he is not prepared to comment on the education reform report three years in the making, saying instead he'll wait until March.

The territory's Education department and the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) unveiled the Education Reform Project final report at a news conference.

"I am not going to comment on specific recommendations," Rouble said.

He said he feared commenting now would impact future meetings with education stakeholders, wherein the report recommendations will be discussed, and implementation strategies will be weighed.

This meeting is slated for March, and will be open to anyone with a vested interest in the education system, including parents and school staff.

In the meantime, the 250-page report, containing 35 different papers, is available at most territorial and first nation government offices, and online.

The report serves to identify a number of the current problems plaguing the education system, with an emphasis on those experienced by first nation students.

Among the list are high absentee rates for rural first nation students, poor literacy skills of first nation students, the need for childcare, the structural difficulties faced by the French-language school board, youth substance abuse, and expensive school nutrition programs.

"If students fail or don't graduate, it is usually a result of absenteeism or substance abuse," reads the report, in a dismal description of territory-wide school problems.

Chief Joe Linklater, on behalf of the CYFN, offered a few clues as to what Yukon chiefs are saying about the report, which is aimed at reducing the gap between first nation and non-first nation student success rates.

"Many first nation students are subject to a range of negative experiences that adversely affect their ability to succeed in the existing education system," reads the report.

The concept of an all-first nations secondary school in Whitehorse has been raised in previous discussions surrounding the education reform project.

The report identifies the idea as a "possibility," and suggests considerations for first nations members and the government to entertain if such an idea is further considered or even implemented.

Linklater, chair of the Yukon Chiefs Council on Education, said the idea may remain just an idea.

"I'm not sure an all-first nations high school would be of full benefit," he said. "I'd rather see more culture brought into the high schools, and expose non-first nation students to our culture."

Indeed, Linklater referenced research that indicated in the near future, the majority of Yukon students will be first nation members.

The document suggests first nations curriculum be integrated into the Yukon's public school system accordingly.

"It is hoped that incorporating cultural education in the curriculum will not merely provide information to students, but facilitate their personal growth," reads the document.

Efforts to incorporate first nation language training is another issue raised by the report, saying, "A comprehensive language curriculum, including a cultural component, is needed."

Linklater admitted that while the idea of language training in Yukon schools is ideal, implementing the curriculum may be difficult.

"Some things we need to look at are; are there enough language instructors?"

There are eight major first nation language groups in the Yukon: Gwich'in, Han, Kaska, Northern Tutchone, Southern Tutchone, Tagish, Tlingit and Upper Tanana. Linklater said while there are those who speak the languages, finding those linguists with teaching qualifications is another challenge.

Overall, first nation teacher numbers were found not be what was expected when the Yukon Native Teacher Education Program was launched in 1989, and it is suggested that better recruitment practices be used, as well as offering day-care facilities to the program's prospective teachers-in-training.

The affliction of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is also being felt, where the "students with FASD are out of synch with the school system every step of the way."

The report recommends an FASD pilot project, funded by YTG, which would see specialists working with FASD students and the staff.

Linklater said what he takes from the report is the focus shifting from departmental policy to community-driven curriculum.

"In the past, what we've seen is the department and its stakeholders handcuffed by policy.

"This sees closer working relations, and changes being made at the community level."

This shift in governance focus will allow for a tailored educational experiences that first nations are looking for, he said.

Chiefs have, in the passed, stressed the importance of integrating land-based learning practices. Under the proposed reforms, community schools could integrate such curriculum as needed.

When Linklater was asked how far this freedom stretched, he answered that, as always, any curriculum or education policy changes would "still have to work within the confines of the legislation."

Under regulations in land claim final agreements, however, Yukon first nations have the power to draw down education authority if the eventual education reforms don't meet their expectations. This would see the first nation in charge of providing education to its members, setting its own curriculum and guidelines.

While the report seeks to identify which issues specifically affect first nations communities and traditions, it also aims to reconcile the concerns of both first nation and non-first nation students, said Rouble.

In light of trades staffing shortfalls felt across the territory, for example, the report recommends changes to trades programs in secondary school to make training easier and more accessible for communities.

The report recommends lengthening the Yukon school year by at least 12 days to correspond with the B.C. school calendar.

Citing general enrolment decline rates in the territory, the report also toys with the idea of closing some Yukon schools. Any decisions would come from an independent committee of first nation and territorial governments, the public and the schools, it reads.

The details of how, exactly, curriculum and policy decisions are made will be discussed at the implementation strategy sessions in March.

The idea of this report, Rouble explained, is to lay the framework for educators and stakeholders decisions at the March meeting, when specific policy and curriculum decisions will be made.

Chief Liard McMillan of the Liard First Nation was slated to attend the report presentation, but was unable to in light of the difficulty travelling in the extreme cold conditions.