CCL Pitches National First Nations Education Act

CCL Pitches National First Nations Education Act

Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 14:25

 

 

A First Nations Education Act should be set up to improve Aboriginal education across the country, according to the Canadian Council on Learning.

 

Paul Cappon, the council’s president and CEO, made that recommendation during a Senate Aboriginal Affairs Committee hearing in Ottawa yesterday.

 

Cappon said the expectations for achievement should be the same for Aboriginal students as for non-Aboriginal students — but the benchmarks to determine how successful the students are should be a combination of Native and non-Native values.

 

He also said that learning should not just be academic studies, but also include learning culture, value and traditions from the community, family and elders.

 

Cappon testified that schools where students are immersed in their own language seem to be a good way to go.

 

He said they don’t have any studies on how well students immersed in Aboriginal languages do, but studies on French immersion show those students do as well — or better — than non-immersion students.

 

Cappon said the same is likely true for Aboriginal immersion.

 

The Onion Lake Cree Nation’s school was cited as a good example.