Aboriginal education needs a legal framework, says NDP

DUNCAN, BC– New Democrat MP Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan) hopes today’s meeting between Aboriginal leaders and the Premiers will be a catalyst for a change in how education is delivered to Aboriginal students.

“The discrimination in funding is most clear for First Nation students living on-reserve but there is an education crisis in Métis and Inuit communities too,” said Crowder, the New Democrat First Nations Issues Critic. “We need to start with funding that keeps great teachers in the classrooms, that builds schools appropriate for Northern and remote locations and that prioritizes traditional language instruction in the early years.”

Experts from the Canadian Council on Learning to Thomas Berger in his review of education in Nunavut have pointed out that children who learn in their traditional language for the first years of school do better in later years and have a better chance of graduating.

“At their recent Assembly in Winnipeg, First Nations presented an ambitious plan to improve education outcomes for students of all ages. I challenged the Minister of Indian Affairs to work closely with the AFN to determine how communities could drive that process and to develop a timetable for legislation that enshrined the right to education in law. Every province has an Education Act but there isn’t one for children living on reserves,” said Crowder.

“A First Nations Education Act would provide a legal framework to support and promote the use of indigenous languages in the early years of teaching. I’m confident that provincial leaders understand the importance of such a framework to sustaining a dynamic education system for children,” said Crowder. “This is a bold step and one Canada should have taken years ago.”