The Stream

Canada’s First Nation Education Reform Act

How can the school systems for indigenous communities be improved?

Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre. (Government of Canada)

More than half of Canada’s indigenous youth do not graduate high school. Though many agree the education system has failed its aboriginal population, how to fix it has been a source of contention. The government says its First Nations Education Reform Act will be “transformational” and can pull aboriginal schools up to provincial standards. The upcoming act has been rejected by indigenous communities who say it doesn’t reflect their culture or address the problem of inadequate school funding. What is the way forward? Join us at 19:30 GMT.

In this episode of The Stream, we speak with:

Caroline Krause 
Aboriginal educational consultant
 
Richard Landau @Richard54
Canadian journalist
 
Tyrone McNeil @STCTye
President, First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC)
 
Chelsea Vowel @apihtawikosisan
Educator and blogger
 
Niigaan Sinclair @Niigaanwewidam
Professor, Native Studies, University of Manitoba

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