Educational funding inequities leave area villages to struggle for quality education

If Indian and Northern Affairs wants to find some relevance in its decisions, perhaps some attention could be paid to the matter of educational funding. A segment of the departments reponisbility which isn't looking particularly well thought out or responding to the needs of First Nations.

Currently the funding process in place shows the federal government contributions continue to trail the provincial numbers, by roughly 1500 dollars per student. A shortfall that seems puzzling and one which doesn't seem to be easily explained.

It’s a situation that leaves schools in First Nations communities struggling to meet the demands of education on a reduced budget and something that surely should be one of the first things that the Harper government might wish to reconcile.

The Daily News outlined the frustrations of the current situation which North Coast MLA Gary Coons calls “a real struggle for equality in the education system.”

The full report was provided in Friday’s paper.

Villages struggle with poorly funded schools
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, February 15, 2008
Page three

According to the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Education Steering Committee, the government of Canada is failing citizens by continuing to ignore the ongoing education crisis being faced in First Nations communities.

The major issue being faced in British Columbia is that of federal funding, which as of the 2005-06 school year lagged behind that of the province by around $1,500 per full-time equivalent student.

"This was in a period when the regional Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) office was working hard to reach parity of funding with the provinces. This was as near as B.C. First Nations schools came to comparable funding," said Jennifer White, communications officer for FNESC.

"It's safe to say that First Nations schools have always been under-funded, and that they do great things in spite of it."

Tyrone McNeil, the Chief Committee on Education representative for B.C. within the Assembly of First Nations says that they have been in a precarious predicament when it comes to getting resources for not only on-reserve schools, but for post-secondary education, and nearly every aspect across the educational spectrum.

"INAC shows a disregard to information we put forward, they don't correspond with us properly and they won't meet with us in a way that supports their renewal mandate," said McNeil. "They have tried to say that First Nations have not been doing a good job with education nationally, but about three-quarters of First Nations students attend public high schools."

North Coast MLA Gary Coons has been paying close attention to the struggle of First Nations educators, as it directly affects four band schools in his riding, including Lax Kw'alaams Academy, Chief Matthews School on Haida Gwaii, Acwsalcta School in Bella Coola and Bella Bella Community School.

"I am concerned that the Harper government is reneging on their obligation to implement a First Nations education policy that recognizes First Nations right to self-determination, and fully involve First Nations as the final authority in decision-making that directly affects their lives," said Coons.

"The lack of federal funds means thousands more First Nations students will continue to have a real struggle for equality in the education system - elementary, secondary and post-secondary."

A problem that all stakeholders identify and agree on is that INAC has not modified its educational policies regarding First Nations education for more than two generations, and federal funding for First Nations has not kept pace with funding for provincial schools for more than two decades, a funding shortfall that is estimated at $172 million. Ottawa's Centre for the Study of Living (GDP) concluded that First Nations educational attainment could benefit $71 billion by 2017 only if First Nations have the same graduation rates of all other Canadians, a goal the Auditor General has placed some 28 years away.

Currently, the INAC Band Operated Funding Formula (BOFF) does not take into account costs relating to running school libraries, vocational training, extracurricular sports and recreation, provincial reforms with an impact on curriculum teaching hours and support measures such as literacy, numeracy, character education, oral language, music, and homework assistance, or programs to support the protection, revitalization and conservation of Aboriginal languages.

Hartley Bay School is made up of nearly an entirely First Nations student body, and although they fall under the umbrella of School District 52, principal Ernie Hill says running the day-to-day operations continues to be a difficult task with less federal funding than other schools in the district.

"We're actually a provincial school getting the same funding as other First Nations schools, and we're just barely making it," said Hill.

"We run Nursery to Grade 12, and for secondary we get the same funding as elementary. It's a struggle."