A new report published by the Northern Policy Institute stresses more needs to be done to improve the quality of education and life for First Nations students in northern Ontario.
Author Dr. Paul Bennett is out with five concrete recommendations for the government to act on.
They include:
1. Close the funding gap for the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council and Nishnawbe Aski Nation.
2. Design, fund and build Dennis Franklin Cromarty transition lodgings to be known as the Student Living Centre.
3. Re-build and expand student support services to smooth the transition to city/town life.
4. Establish a Race Relations Commissioner and officers in cities and towns with sizable populations of First Nations youth and students.
5. Expand and fortify ‘Student Success’ curriculum initiatives based upon Indigenous ways of knowing and learning.
Bennett looked at the challenges and successes of Pelican Lake High School near Sioux Lookout and Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay when coming up with the suggestions.
He says additional support and leadership is needed in several of local communities, including Dryden.
Bennett says a Thunder Bay coroner’s inquest report into the deaths of seven First Nations students released in June has motivated new public calls for concrete, meaningful changes in Indigenous education.
He adds evidence shows First Nation run schools are better equipped to actually deliver a curriculum that will benefit Indigenous youth.
