Battlefords Aboriginal education council formed

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Six Battlefords-area First Nations are forming a council that will govern education in Aboriginal schools in the region.

The Northwest Nations Education Council (NNEC), the first Aboriginal education authority of its kind in the province, will provide educational services for schools operated by Little Pine, Poundmaker, Red Pheasant, Sweetgrass, Moosomin,and Mosquito, Grizzly Bear's Head,Lean Man First Nations. The schools have a total student enrollment of about 1,000.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) will provide $800,000 in new funding for the council for 2005-06, added to about $500,000 in existing funds that will be re-allocated to the NNEC.

Additional funding will come from the local community development corporation.

According to James Parker, senior communications officer with INAC, Saskatchewan region, roughly a third of the INAC money allocated to the new council will be used to "deal with the achievement gap through enhancing student learning." That will include curriculum workshops, a language arts catalyst teacher, teacher aid training, additional resources for kindergarten and resource centres and more support for historical and cultural programs in the schools.

"The overarching goal is to improve educational outcomes at these First Nations," said Parker. "We're providing more instructional material for Aboriginal culture and languages ... That's one area where we're spending money."

Parker said INAC has identified a need to invest in First Nations education.

"If you look at the demographics, there's a lot of young First Nations people that need to be educated, and we are making a major investment in First Nations education on reserve, so it only makes sense to have an administrative structure to support those schools, he said. "There must be increased capacity to teach greater numbers of students . . . and teach them at a level equivalent to off-reserve in a non-Aboriginal community ... This is the first of what we hope to be a number of enhancements and investments in First Nations education in the years to come."

Saskatchewan Learning documents show the number of K-12 students living on reserve has increased from 13,333 in 1986-87 to 19,659 in 2003-04, and the percentage of on-reserve students attending First Nations schools has jumped from 48 to 82.

Each First Nation involved in the project will be represented on the NNEC board of trustees, which will be chaired by Little Pine band member Alex Kennedy. Gerry Guillet will be the council's director of education.

"What we're doing now with this new education system we've initiated, it's based on what is important to First Nations people in North Battleford, culturally and spiritually," said Kennedy.

Kennedy has a vision for the new First Nations school division.

It centres on the restoration of Aboriginal culture, and it's a vision he's had for years.

An advocate of First Nations control over First Nations education since the 1970s, Kennedy is pleased to see the progress now being made.

It's important that students attending First Nation schools are taught to the same standard as students at other schools across the province, Kennedy said. But it's also important that they be given opportunities to appreciate their cultural roots.

"The basis of the system we've developed is that we go back to what was important to our grandmothers and grandfathers, so we can find who we are, so we won't be lost," he said.

"One of the things that has happened to our people is the paternalistic government policies and churches, they've taken away every means to raise a family," Alex Kennedy said, adding that First Nations people lost their self-sufficiency and cultural dignity when they were shepherded onto small reserves and forced into an education system of residential and church-run schools.

"That was designed to take away everything Indian that's in me," said Kennedy, who attended a one-room mission schoolon the Little Pine reserve.

Things have changed since Kennedy's school days. There's a new school building and more teachers at Little Pine, and the number of students has tripled in the now band-run school.

Kennedy predicts First Nation ownership over First Nation education will instill a renewed cultural pride in Aboriginal youth. That could increase confidence and self-esteem and dramatically decrease problems like alcoholism, drug abuse and teen pregnancy. It will take some time, however.

"It's not going to happen overnight. It's going to take 20 years to make a marked improvement," he said. "But hopefully in five years we'll be making inroads to places we never dreamed of."

One of the focuses of the new council in the coming year will be improving student outcomes in language arts, explained Gerry Guillet.

"We're looking first of all at our language arts and our reading. That is one of the major initiatives we're implementing, a language arts catalyst teacher in each school," he said.

The language arts catalyst teacher will be a teacher dedicated half time to assisting classroom teachers in developing students' reading and language arts skills.

Financial accountability is another NNEC objective.

"I think we are also wanting our First Nations to be more accountable for education funding to be applied to education only. That would be another of our tasks," said Guillet.

"We're looking at a central ordering system for schools, for books and other things of that sort, for efficiency. We'll be looking at other efficiencies whenever possible in order to funnel more funds to classroom needs instead of ancillary services. We want to put more money in the classroom instead of administration."

The NNEC will also look at partnering with the province to improve First Nations education.

"We will be working very diligently to establish partnerships with the provincial Saskatchewan Learning for curriculum and professional development opportunitie. Whatever initiatives the province looks at, we want to be part of that," Guillet said.

"I believe all the chiefs and council are committed to this venture to improve the quality of education in schools and yet maintain some identity in their own reserves and in their communities," said Guillet.

"I'm very upbeat and positive about the future here. I'm very impressed with my council members and their commitment and their vision. And I appreciate the willingness of the chiefs and councils to enter into their agreement. I think what chiefs and councils have done is agree to look at how can we better serve the needs of kids in their schools. I think this is their way of saying things need to improve."