The Yukon ranks last in almost every subject in the latest report card on schools' performances.

Once every three years, the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) measures Grade 8 students in their reading, math and science skills.

The report has the Yukon ranking at the bottom of science and reading and third to last (after Manitoba and Prince Edward Island) in mathematics.

The Yukon was the only Canadian territory to participate in the assessment.

"It's not unexpected,” Christie Whitley, the assistant deputy minister of education, told the Star today.

"We've known this for quite some time and this confirms it.”

Whitley thinks it's important to recognize a lot of students are doing well, but there are also many who are "not doing well.”

She said her department has been working on education reform for the past three years, following in the footsteps of jurisdictions like Ontario and Alberta.

Since these two provinces performed well in the report card, she continued, that means Yukon officials are on the right track.

The Yukon is working on reducing the number of students in primary classes and changing the way students are assessed, Whitley said.

Individual communities are looking at exactly what their own needs are instead of decisions being made from afar.

The department is also considering video conferencing for rural students who have to leave their communities and attend high school in Whitehorse.

"We're already doing it, but we want to do it on a larger scale,” Whitley said.

She didn't comment on the roots of why the Yukon is ranking so poorly in these type of assessment.

She did admit attendance is a problem, which she thinks is a reflection of cold weather, the distances some kids have to travel to school and First Nations cultural differences, like dealing with a death in the family.

She said the school in Old Crow is hosting events like pizza lunches to try to keep kids in the classroom.

Scott Kent, the Yukon's new education minister, told the Star today these results show the territory definitely has work to do.

He said these results, along with the 2009 auditor general's report and input from school councils and advisory committees help Yukoners know which direction the territory needs to go.

As for why Yukoners' literacy skills in particular are dropping, Kent said he's "not too sure”.

"Obviously, we have work to do,” he repeated.

Jim Tredger, the New Democrats' education critic and retired teacher and principal, said he's concerned the Yukon results are not improving.

He said rural areas tend to perform worse than cities when it comes to education rankings.

In the big picture, he continued, the entire Yukon is a rural area.

Tredger thinks Yukoners need to move on from all the discussions and meetings and create an action plan.

"The new minister needs to establish performance targets with measurable outcomes. Let's look at what's happening now and what we can do to improve it.”

On a per capita basis, the Yukon has one of the best-funded – if not the best-funded – education systems in Canada.