On July 1st, twenty-one students graduated from UPEI with a Masters in Education. What made this convocation extra special and unique is that it took place in Iqaluit and not on Prince Edward Island.

The Master of Education in Leadership and Learning is the first graduate degree program to be offered in Nunavut. (Source: UPEI)

While the MEd was granted from UPEI, the curriculum itself, a nice blend of both western and Inuit educational philsophy and practice, is actually the product of a partnership between UPEI, the Nunavut Department of Education, Nunavut Artctic College, and St. Francis Xavier University.

Members of UPEI Faculty of Education, including Dr. Fiona Walton (pictured above), who was instrumental in implementing this program, attended the convocation, along with UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan.

President MacLauchlan spoke highly of the Nunavut MEd program: This is a great achievement for UPEI and our Faculty of Education, in combination with the community in Nunavut, to offer this remarkable program. (Source: UPEI)

This MEd program is not only a celebration of higher education, but a promise of future development and leadership. As reporter Elizabeth Church stated in Saturday's Globe and Mail: [The program] marks a milestone for the people of Nunavut as they fashion a school system and produce leaders for their community. It also comes as many, notably Governor-General Michaelle Jean, are championing higher education for the Far North, including the need for a university of its own. (Source: Globe and Mail, July 4, 2009)