Aboriginal Post-Secondary Funding Must Go Up: CFS

Aboriginal Post-Secondary Funding Must Go Up: CFS

Monday, December 21, 2009 at 13:42

The Canadian Federation of Students says the government must uphold treaty rights, especially when it comes to education funding.

CFS spokesman Jaden Keitlah was responding to a recent Indian Affairs report regarding the post-secondary student support program.

The report says existing funding levels do not need to be increased.

But Keitlah says the federal government has a responsibility under the treaties to provide funding for education.

“Education is a right for everyone, but it’s a treaty right for First Nations people, and the government really needs to honour that and make sure that no First Nations person, no Aboriginal learner, is shut out of education because of under-funding,” he says.

Keitlah says education can break the cycle of poverty and unemployment.

He estimates that more than 15,000 Aboriginal students have been denied funding for post-secondary education since 1996.