Nurturing the learning spirit of First Nations students
National Panel on First Nations Elementary and Secondary Education for Students on Reserves, 2012.
The Panel was struck by the Assembly of First Nations and the federal government to spend four months consulting across Canada to make recommendations about how to strengthen the educational system on reserves.
The panel held public hearings and found, as expected, serious shortfalls in First Nations on-reserve education, including a per-pupil funding rate that is 20% less than the national average per child.
The Panel recommended an eighteen-month implementation schedule, which was immediately dismissed as aspirational by the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
The main recommendations of the Panel were:
- Co‐create a Child‐Centered First Nation Education Act
- Create a National Commission for First Nation education to support education reform and improvement
- Facilitate and support the creation of a First Nation education system through the development of regional First Nation Education Organizations (FNEO) to provide support and services for First Nation schools and First Nation Students
- Ensure adequate funding to support a First Nation education system that meets the needs of First Nation learners, First Nation communities and Canada as a whole
- Establish an accountability and reporting framework to assess improvement in First Nation education.
The Chiefs of Ontario did not participate in the AFN/Federal process and released their own report, Our children, our future, our vision.