Funding gap plagues education of First Nations, says AFN
The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations says the key to success for aboriginal people is education — but the educators themselves need to get that lesson.
Shawn Atleo is in Winnipeg to deliver a message to The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada.
First Nations have been working for 40 years to have better education for their people, he said during a morning stop at the CBC Winnipeg studios to talk with Information Radio host Marcy Markusa.
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“First Nations control — in other words for our jurisdiction to be recognized — funding, sustainable, fair, predictable … resources for language and culture, [all] must be a part of that," he said.
Atleo says he's seen situations in which 30 children in one community have been turned away from kindergarten because there just isn't the funding for classroom space and teachers.
"This is the story that Canada is now beginning to understand, that there is a massive [funding] gap,” he said.