94 Calls to Action as a result of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action #9.
We call upon the federal government to prepare and
publish annual reports comparing funding for the
education of First Nations children on and off reserves,
as well as educational and income attainments of
Aboriginal peoples in Canada compared with nonAboriginal people.
As you can see from the repetition of parts of this call, Call #8 was to eliminate the discrepancy, and then call #9 is about reporting out. This report only speaks to 2016-2017. It’s 2021… I find it interesting that there is not clearer data even though every school year there should be a report. I did find the chart particularly interesting below. In theory, anyone attending a provincial school even on-reserve should have full funding from the government. I wonder if they are?
What is happening?
Indigenous Services Canada is continuing to produce reports on education funding. The most recent public report is from the 2016 to 2017 school year:
- Kindergarten to grade 12 operating expenditures 2016 to 2017 overview
- Use the link above to see the whole report on funding.
Of particular interest for those that are not understanding, FTE means “Full-Time Equivalent” so if a student is part-time they are not a 1.0FTE. Those schools under self-governance agreements are something I am very interested in learning more about.
| BC | AB | SK | MB | ON | QC | Atlantic | All provinces | % of total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Nation-operated schools | 4,639 | 9,752 | 15,834 | 15,143 | 12,884 | 6,230 | 1,661 | 66,141.9 | 65% |
| Provincial schools | 7,143 | 6,838 | 3,556 | 5,693 | 5,915 | 1,597 | 1,536 | 32,277.6 | 32% |
| Private/Independent schools | 725 | 243 | 28 | 189 | 525 | 344 | 44 | 2,096.6 | 2% |
| Federal schools | 70 | 1,398 | 1,468.0 | 1% | |||||
| Total FTE students | 12,472 | 16,902 | 19,418 | 21,024 | 20,722 | 8,171 | 3,240 | 101,984.1 | 100% |
| Note: Figures may not add up due to rounding. FTE counts do not include students under self-government agreements. | |||||||||
Hi Jennifer,
You said that “Those schools under self-governance agreements are something I am very interested in learning more about.” I see that you’ve posted a lot about the Calls the Action from the Government Site, but during your web searches, did you find any information on self-governance and what it means to Indigenous Communities? Do all Indigenous Peoples believe in self-governance and do they practice it the same way – or – does it depend on the Band, Reserve, Province, etc.?