Posted on 07 December 2011
(December 7, 2011) OTTAWA - First Nations education is in crisis and requires a complete overhaul, says the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples in its latest report, entitled: Reforming First Nations Education: From Crisis to Hope.
Unlike schools everywhere else in Canada, First Nations schools on reserves operate in isolation and without any of the critical education supports that a 21st century modern system of education requires. With as many as 7 out of 10 children not graduating from high school, it is an education model that is ineffective, outdated and that is failing First Nations children.
The report calls for a First Nations Education Act to provide for the establishment and legal recognition of First Nations educational authorities that are accountable, first and foremost, to parents and community members and that are able to enter into contractual arrangements with provincial and territorial school systems for critical education services.
“First Nations kids do not get an education that is comparable to their non-First Nation neighbours who live a kilometer down the road. But more money alone won’t fix the problem, says Senator Gerry St. Germain, P.C., chair of the committee. Everywhere else, we have school boards, ministries of education, education acts. We need to get beyond the 518 individually-run, band-operated schools and create a First Nations system of education that can support those schools to deliver a high quality on- reserve education.”
In addition to structural change, the report calls for First Nations education financing reform. Statutory funding, based on key cost drivers, is needed, concludes the report, to replace the current system of annual contribution payments First Nations receive from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. The current formula, last updated in 1996, does not include money for libraries, computer or technology labs, athletic facilities and capital costs. The result is that First Nations are going into significant debt or cannot deliver basic educational services that are taken for granted elsewhere.
“Among the most difficult testimony presented to this committee is that, right now, across this country, there are uncounted numbers of First Nations children and youth who are receiving an education vastly unequal to their non-First Nations neighbours. Alarming drop-out rates and poor academic performance continue to compromise the future of many First Nations youth,” says Senator Lillian Dyck, deputy chair of the committee. “In some instances, we heard that children will attend schools that are crumbling, infested with black mould or that are situated on contaminated land. Most of these children will learn from textbooks that neither reflect who they are or speak to them of who they can become. In time, some will be lost to themselves, to their families and communities, and to this country.”
The report acknowledges that the process of renewal and reform of First Nations education will undoubtedly be challenging, but the willingness and commitment from all parties to undertake reform is there. The time is now upon us to act boldly, says the report, to replace an antiquated system of education with a modern system, fostering real hope for the future.
To learn more about the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, please visit: http://senate-senat.ca/appa-e.asp
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For more information please contact:
Ceri Au
Media Relations
613-944-9145
auc@sen.parl.gc.ca
Marcy Zlotnick
Committee Clerk
613-990-6080
zlotm@sen.parl.gc.ca
RECOMMENDATIONS:
RECOMMENDATION 1
That the Government of Canada, in consultation with First Nations and First Nations educational authorities, develop a First Nations Education Act; that this Act explicitly recognize the authority of First Nations for on-reserve elementary and secondary education; and that it enable the establishment of First Nations controlled second-and-third level education structures; and that the application of this Act to individual First Nations communities be optional, and provide for the repeal of the education sections of the Indian Act for those First Nations that opt into the new Act.
RECOMMENDATION 2
That the proposed First Nations Education Act provide statutory authority to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada to make payments from the Consolidated Revenue Fund to First Nations educational authorities, with the objective of providing educational services on reserves; that the methodology for establishing the amount of these payments be enshrined in regulations authorized under the Act, and developed in consultation with First Nations; that these regulations would consider key cost drivers such as demographics and remoteness; and that the formula for establishing payments include, among other things, First Nations language preservation and revitalization programs.
RECOMMENDATION 3
That the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, in collaboration with First Nations organizations and the Assembly of First Nations, take immediate steps to develop a Canada-First Nations Action Plan for education reform; and that the joint action plan include a process to ensure that First Nations are able to opt into a First Nations Education Act within agreed-upon timelines.
RECOMMENDATION 4
That a task force, jointly appointed by the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the Assembly of First Nations, be established to oversee and monitor progress related to First Nations educational reform; and that the task force report annually, for the next five years, to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and to the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.