TRC Calls to Action: #8

Legacy
Education

  8. We call upon the federal government to eliminate the discrepancy in federal education funding for First Nations children being educated on reserves and those First Nations children being educated off reserves.

Most recent numbers suggest funding for First Nations schools is still around 30% lower than funding for other schools. This CBC article gives some interesting insight as to part of the reason why; basically, First Nations schools are federally funded, whereas the rest are provincially funded - this means someone at the federal level, who is too disconnected from the reserves to make any kind of relevant contribution to their education systems, is in charge of something they actually have very little to do with. If First Nations schools were to go to the provinces for funding, however, they would essentially lose control over their education systems altogether, and would likely have even more non-Indigenous interference, leadership and curricula. It's an interesting issue and I encourage you to do your own research about it; I started with the Government of Canada's page.

What I have learned through today's Call: First Nations schools are funded federally, whereas non-Indigenous schools are funded provincially; this difference in funding power has consequences which contribute to the discrepancy between First Nations schools and others.