Mice-infested schools, without playgrounds, adequate books, or gyms. You would expect conditions like these in third world countries, not in Canadian schools.
Yet these are just some of the problems in reserve schools across the country, according to letters written by First Nations children to the United Nations.
“(It’s) not fair when children are crowded in a classroom and it’s not fair that mice eat the snacks,” wrote a student named Angelique. “It’s not fun when cold winds are in the school. It’s not fun at all!”
The report, “Our Dreams Matter Too: First Nations children’s rights, lives and education,” will be released this week in Gatineau and submitted to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child with a view to prompting an investigation into the historic inequities in native education which is the responsibility of the federal government.
The report was put together by Shannen Koostachin and Cindy Blackstock, head of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and Irwin Elman, the Ontario Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth.
Growing up, Koostachin recalled going to school in Attawapiskat in “run-down portables on a site next to a 50,000 litre diesel spill”. Though Koostachin died in June 2010, her efforts have led to accelerated funding of an elementary school being built in her remote, fly-in community.
First Nations kids are funded an average of $2,000 to $3,000 less than non-native kids, sometimes more depending on the province. In some cases, because there are no schools, native kids are sent hundreds of kilometres away to cities like Thunder Bay and Timmins.
In the last decade, seven First Nations teens from remote reserves attending high school in Thunder Bay have mysteriously been found dead in nearby rivers.
“I can tell you that our government has held discussions with the Assembly of First Nations and we look forward to continued progress on important issues such as governance, education and economic development,” said Michelle Yao, director of communications for Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan.
A First Nations-Crown meeting is proposed for next year.
Almost three out of four native teens drop out of high school. With one of the highest suicide rates in the country, most native teenagers live in poverty and isolation.
Would such staggering statistics be tolerated, and largely ignored, in any other Canadian community? Doubtful.
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