(Ottawa) Twenty-two Aboriginal communities in Quebec will receive more than $1 billion over five years for elementary and secondary education. The agreement reached with the federal government should give them greater autonomy to manage these funds according to their needs.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
“Unheard of”, according to several sources with whom The Press was able to confirm the details and who were not authorized to speak publicly. The Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, and the regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, Ghislain Picard, are to make the announcement in Kahnawake this Thursday morning.
“This historic agreement will promote the academic success of First Nations students in Quebec,” reads the notice sent to the media. It will ensure quality education according to the models, priorities and realities of Aboriginal communities, while promoting their cultures and languages. »
The $1 billion envelope includes $310.6 million in fresh money already included in the last federal budget.
The parties have agreed on a funding formula that will allow each community to receive equitable funding and use it as it sees fit.
The 22 affected communities are located throughout Quebec, from Gaspésie to Abitibi-Témiscamingue. Needs vary greatly from place to place. For example, Kitigan Zibi, in Outaouais, already manages its own school and has issued its own secondary school diploma since 1985, which is recognized by CEGEPs and universities.
The situation is quite different in the community of Gespeg, in Gaspésie, which has no school. Aboriginal children therefore attend the one in Gaspé, which is managed by the local school service centre.
Some communities will therefore want to offer programs to teach their language and culture, while others will prefer to use these new funds to improve their working conditions in order to retain their staff. The money could also be used for technological support, classroom support or school transportation.
Core Education Funding
A similar announcement was made Monday in British Columbia, where four Indigenous communities signed a self-governance agreement for elementary and secondary education. They were thus given full latitude in teaching certification, school accreditation, graduation requirements, curriculum, and course approval. However, each agreement is different to meet the needs of the communities, which vary from province to province.
In 2019, the federal government and the Assembly of First Nations agreed on a new approach to “First Nations control of First Nations education”. The January 21 press release also referred to “more predictable and adequate funding”.
Ottawa then undertook to guarantee basic education funding comparable to that of the provinces. The funding formula included in the new agreements with the communities had to take into account factors such as remoteness, school size, language and socio-economic conditions.
An annual sum of $1,500 per student was also to be paid to Aboriginal schools to support language and cultural programs. The federal government was also to provide “new resources” for full-day kindergarten for 4- and 5-year-olds and predictable funding for special education “less demand-driven.”