{"id":102120,"date":"2026-02-19T09:25:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T14:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=102120"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:25:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T14:25:41","slug":"ece-to-improve-staff-training-to-avoid-another-sfa-backlog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/19\/ece-to-improve-staff-training-to-avoid-another-sfa-backlog\/","title":{"rendered":"ECE to improve staff training to avoid another SFA backlog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Claire McFarlane, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio The Northwest Territories government says it will offer more training to staff who administer Student Financial Assistance after students faced months-long delays receiving payments. While the territory won&#8217;t change how the program is administered, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment said it will work to ensure additional resources can be employed during high-demand periods, spokesperson Agata Gutkowska said. Education minister Caitlin Cleveland said in October the department had added five positions to help handle an increase in SFA applications. The program offers grants and loans to post-secondary students to help pay for things like tuition, books and travel. In August, the GNWT said it was experiencing &#8220;an exceptionally high volume of applications and emails&#8221; due to a nearly 20 per&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F02%2F19%2Fece-to-improve-staff-training-to-avoid-another-sfa-backlog%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Claire McFarlane, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio The Northwest Territories government says it will offer more training to staff who administer Student Financial Assistance after students faced months-long delays receiving payments. While the territory won&#8217;t change how the program is administered, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment said it will work to ensure additional resources can be employed during high-demand periods, spokesperson Agata Gutkowska said. Education minister Caitlin Cleveland said in October the department had added five positions to help handle an increase in SFA applications. The program offers grants and loans to post-secondary students to help pay for things like tuition, books and travel. In August, the GNWT said it was experiencing &#8220;an exceptionally high volume of applications and emails&#8221; due to a nearly 20 per... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F02%2F19%2Fece-to-improve-staff-training-to-avoid-another-sfa-backlog%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ECE to improve staff training to avoid another SFA backlog - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/19\/ece-to-improve-staff-training-to-avoid-another-sfa-backlog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ECE to improve staff training to avoid another SFA backlog - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Claire McFarlane, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio The Northwest Territories government says it will offer more training to staff who administer Student Financial Assistance after students faced months-long delays receiving payments. While the territory won&#8217;t change how the program is administered, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment said it will work to ensure additional resources can be employed during high-demand periods, spokesperson Agata Gutkowska said. Education minister Caitlin Cleveland said in October the department had added five positions to help handle an increase in SFA applications. The program offers grants and loans to post-secondary students to help pay for things like tuition, books and travel. 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