Native Elder Lawrence Michel teaches traditional words at Chief Atahm School in Chase, B.C. on Wednesday November 17, 2010.
First nations students in B.C. will soon receive the same funding as their peers in provincially run schools, thanks to an agreement signed Friday morning near Ottawa.
The First Nations Education Steering Committee, which represents about 130 schools, has been in negotiations with the federal government for six years, shaping a strategy to improve education on reserves.
A gap in per-pupil funding – estimated to be as much as 20 per cent less on reserves – had been a sticking point. Negotiations seemed at a standstill in April, with FNESC reluctant to cede control of its schools to the province in exchange for more money.
The new agreement promises stable funding year-over-year, and an annual $15-million top-up for B.C.'s first nations schools starting in the fall of 2012. It evens out educational funding on and off reserve, and requires FNESC to submit annual reports on student achievement.
"It's a huge step forward," said Debbie Jeffrey, executive director of FNESC.
Her group will fill the role of both school district and ministry of education, and assist in administering standardized tests to students.
This framework for a first nations education system meets some of the recommendations a panel on aboriginal education is expected to make next month, and could serve as a model.
First nations students are among the most likely to drop out of high school, and just 39 per cent of youth between the ages of 20 and 24 living on reserves have completed high school.
Students often move back and forth between provincial and reserve schools, and B.C.'s Ministry of Education is also a signing partner in the agreement.
The goal is "strengthening education programs, services and standards between on reserve and provincial education systems so students can transfer between the two systems seamlessly," said John Duncan, minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, according to transcripts of a news conference on the agreement. (The transcripts were provided by the ministry in response to a request for an interview.)
The new agreement – especially its promise of better funding – was welcome news to Len Merriman, principal of two schools on Stz'uminus First Nations, on Vancouver Island.
He said he'd like to put some of the funds toward school programming, building the list of course options available to students.
He'd also like to increase staff salaries.
"We're losing good staff members because they're being paid in some cases, 30, 40, even 50 per cent less than they would in the local [school]district," he said.