Money alone can’t fix Canadas Aboriginal education
Jeffrey Simpson
Prime Minister Stephen Harper acted correctly, if belatedly, when he decided to pour lots more money into aboriginal education.
The sums are considerable, but the need is great. On-reserve aboriginal educational achievement is poor by any standard. Yes, there are exceptions to be hailed. But there are many failures to be lamented.
Mr. Harper negotiated this file in its last stages, sitting down with Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
The result, detailed in the recent budget, will produce a First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act that enshrines the principle of aboriginal control of aboriginal education. Gone is any idea of integrated school systems. Aboriginals have won the fight that there should be parallel systems: one for their children on-reserve, and one for others.
It would have been easy, given this acceptance of parallel structures, to just hand over lots more money, willy-nilly, and hope for the best. Instead, the money comes with some strings attached, the most important perhaps being that there must be aboriginal school boards called First Nations education authorities.
Creating these might be harder than it sounds, since their creation will take power (and control of money) away from chiefs. And few political leaders of any stripe like giving up power.
The federal-aboriginal agreement also stipulates that aboriginal schools must teach a core curriculum that meets provincial standards and critically that all students must meet minimum attendance requirements. Schools will be issuing diplomas for graduates. There must also be annual reporting requirements from the aboriginal educational administrators.
This parallel structure will provide money for funding language and cultural programing. What this will mean in practice remains to be seen.
Full Article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/aboriginal-education-needs-money-and-more/article17008070/
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Canada is going in the right direction. It is a huge job and the 1st Nations People will have their work cut out for them.
You know, Harper really confuses me - and many others. First he's against the 1st Nation's peoples and is going to eliminate the Reserves - and now he's throwing money into an education fund/department.
Indeed for while everything may seem to be OK on the surface when it comes down to sharing power there is where the rub will come in! This country could still take a few lessons from this and I hope that they will be watching.
It's a lost leader 1st. His ultimate goal is to eliminate the Reserves, plain and simply. There is a lot more money involved in taking the First Nations land then the money going to education. Harper speaks with fork tongue when it comes to the First Nations.
There is no reason to believe that this won't work. There are tribes in the U.S. that have started their own schools, with the core academics as part of the teachings. These schools are accredited by the state educational system, and have a excellent record.
And I'm hoping this is just the beginning of a similar system for Canada's First Nations. They have to start some where Kavika. I hear what your saying and it may be true but if they don't try then the children lose.
Oh, for sure they should try, and I'm sure that if given the chance to do it their way, they will succeed Larry.
It's a start, and one that they should take full advantage of.
I hope they are too Tsula.
Education is the way to go to lift people out of poverty, and be able to compete in a world with reduced opportunity for most due to the replacement of labor by machines, with no offsetting middle class employment growth.
I support all efforts at equal access to a good education.
We are all members of the same human family. We all rise or fall, based on the actualization of human potential, no matter the group source.
E.