Education on Reserves
By: Presley
(Photo credits at end of post.)
Reserve schools educational system failing.
Education on reserves has been an issue in Canada for a while. Today 54% of all Indigenous children are in the care of government agencies. Today there are 518 schools on 518 on Indigenous reserves that the federal government of Canada is responsible for. So why is the government making schooling in the rest of Canada a priority but not doing much for the struggling schools on reserves?
First off I would like to talk about how the education system that schools on reserves are using is failing nationally. If there was an issue like this in regular Canadian schools it would be a crisis and would be recognized by many, but when it happens on reserves, not much conversation sparks from it. If indigenous students attained the same educational levels as other Canadians it is calculated that $71.1 billion would be added to Canada’s economy. There are proven benefits to improving the indigenous educational system but it seems like very little is being done about it.
This problem is of course connected to other problems like the poor conditions some reserves have. Some of the schools on reserves are very rundown and in need of repair, lots of portables and very untidy is a common description of a school on a reserve. The comparison between provincial schools and reserve schools is very clear, the schools on reserves need to improve conditions.The way the schools are on reserves now makes it a lot less likely for students to attend school everyday and work hard. It is a lot easier for a student to go to school everyday and focus when the school is a comfortable learning space for them.
Another important factor of education on reserves is the very high dropout rate. Only 4 out of 10 indigenous people across the country graduate from high school, all though indigenous students who attend provincial high school had a 7 out of 10 graduation rate. It is not the students it is the schools and their education systems. If the government can make a provincial school successful why can't it make a school on a reserve successful?
Overall, something needs to change and progress should be happening at a fast rate to improve the curriculum and school conditions so the education system for schools on reserves can be just like the school I attend.
Reference page:
(October 20, 2016). $2B needed for ‘immediate’ fixes to First Nations schools, bureaucrats say John Paul Tasker - CBC News https://www.google.ca/amp/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.3803507
(October 05, 2016). First Nations education a cash-strapped 'non-system,' bureaucrats tell minister John Paul Tasker - CBC News https://www.google.ca/amp/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.3759818
(April 12, 2014). Shacks and slop pails: infrastructure crisis on native reserves Kazi Stastna - CBC News
(2010). Canada’s Aboriginal education crisis
(January 28, 2016). Low graduation rates at reserve schools put aboriginals in jeopardy: report
No comments:
Post a Comment