Framework a need for First Nations K-12 education

The Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples is travelling across the country to study how First Nations schools can improve educational outcomes so students achieve greater success rates.

At the Office of the Treaty Commissioner on October 4, committee chair and Senator Gerry St. Germain, along with Senator Lillian Dyck, met with reporters to field questions and share information on the national study.
“We (are hoping we) are able to come up with a report that will provide recommendations, hopefully the federal government will act on and improve the plight of our First Nations people at the educational level,” said Senator St. Germain. From Oct. 4-8, the senate visited schools considered successful in Saskatchewan and Alberta that included schools in Saskatoon, Whitecap Dakota Nation, and Onion Lake First Nation.

“We’re hearing a litany of things. Number one, one size doesn’t fit all.… Everybody has unique situations,” Senator St. Germain said.

They are focused on gaining a better understanding of education issues and having the federal government respond while taking into consideration the treaties.
As well, senators hope to see a legislative framework to follow for First Nations K-12 schools and a governance package that will offer an opt-in or opt-out alternative.
“An enabling type of legislation,” he added. “And then the funding is not secondary, it’s just part of the parcel of the whole thing.”

Senator Dyck stated that funding alone will not solve the problems in on-reserve schools.

“(The issues) we heard a lot about today were (concerning) many of the partnerships between individual First Nations with the different school boards with the schools, and with the province,” said Senator Dyck.

When asked what sparked the need for the study, Senator St. Germain responded that it was a study on economic development that showed First Nations education was not adequately preparing First Nations students with skills necessary for the workforce.

“One of the common threads of why economic development wasn’t taking place the way it should amongst our First Nations people was education. A lack of education, their inability to compete, just their lack of training,” he said.

Senator St. Germain stated that on a trip to Thunder Bay, he was part of a delegation that visited Wasa Airlines, which is owned by a local First Nations group. He asked the company how many pilots they employed and was told they had over a hundred.

“I said ‘how many are First Nations?’ They said ‘one’.”
Senator St. Germaine then asked ‘why?’

The company representative explained that First Nations applicants simply don’t have the Math and Science strengths to pass a commercial pilots license.

“The lack of education was clearly undermining the ability of our First Nations to do well,” Senator St. Germain said, adding the cultural aspect also has to be considered in shaping an education framework that will be more effective.

The system now does not recognize the cultural aspect of Aboriginal people and has failed to inspire Aboriginal students to further their education, he said.

“They’re operating in a foreign type of atmosphere. Whereas, children that are in immersion—a language immersion or a cultural scenario they can identify with—it seems there’s a better level of success that emerges from First Nations students and young people that are exposed to their culture, their language, and their spirituality,” he added.

According to a release, the study is being conducted in regional phases that combine public hearings with fact-finding missions.

Photo Caption: Senators Gerry St. Germaine and Lillian Dyck were in Saskatoon on Oct. 4 as the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples conducted hearings on how First Nations schools across Canada can be improved to better prepare students for the workforce.