Poste - Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

C A N A D I A N C O A L I T I O N F O R T H E R I G H T S O F C H I L D R E N
Children’s Participation at Jamieson
School, Sydney, NS
Youth Speaks Up involves young people in
decision-making on social issues at the Jamieson
elementary school in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Children form their own committee and get
together with students from other schools to share
their views on various current issues. Children are
trained to make positive and socially aware
decisions and to become involved in the
community. 21
living in poverty. However, many observers have
expressed concern that school expenses and field trip
costs are often left to parents or the community to raise,
leading to unequal access and stigmatization of the
underprivileged.
Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Children
and Youth found that the late elementary school years are
a positive experience for most young people in Canada.
“They are achieving in school, feel good about
themselves, have positive attitudes toward school and
believe that their parents and teachers support their
academic efforts.” 22
Physical Health
The Canadian Paediatric Society and the Canadian
Teachers’ Federation have urged parents, politicians and
policy makers to take steps to increase the physical
activity levels of children. Two national studies by the
Heart and Stroke Foundation and Canadian Fitness and
Lifestyle Research Institute found that the health of 63
percent of Canadian children is at risk due to high levels
of physical inactivity. There is an increasing reliance on
television, video games and computer technology during
leisure time, in addition to an overall decline in physical
education in schools. The Canadian Teachers’ Federation
notes, however, that there is little consensus on how to
achieve the appropriate balance between academic and
physical education within the core curriculum. 23
In November 1998, a round-table meeting of
representatives of federal, provincial and municipal
80
governments and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) developed a variety of strategies to ensure
physical activity and recreation opportunities for
children living in poverty. 24
National and International Assessments
In the Third International Mathematics and Science
Survey of Grade 8 students in over 50 countries,
Canadian students did as well as or better in
mathematics than students in 30 other countries and
not as well as those from 10 countries. In science,
Canadian students did as well as or better than
students in 31 countries and not as well as those from
9 countries. 25
The trend towards more testing is related to issues of
standards and expectations. However, the Canadian
Teachers’ Federation criticizes national and
international testing, questioning the validity of results
and arguing that the tests do not assess the broader
aims of education, such as promoting citizenship,
ethics, character and respect for others. Furthermore,
the distinct nature of the various education systems in
Canada means that aggregated national testing results
“are an inadequate measure of the efficiency of these
systems,” according to education commentator David
Ireland. 26 Yet in 1995, the Council of Ministers of
Education, Canada, supported testing of students’
achievement in the arts, social sciences and civics and
recommended that testing for these areas be developed
to assess a wider range of subjects and skills of
Canadian students. 27
Aboriginal Students
In addition to facing the challenges of non-Aboriginal
students, Aboriginal children have to cope with the
legacy of social disintegration resulting from
colonialism and the forced removal of children to
attend residential schools. Consequently, Aboriginal
children attain lower overall levels of educational
achievement compared with other Canadian children. 28
The table below compares the highest level of
education attained in 1991 by all adult Canadians with
the highest level attained by adults who identified
themselves as Aboriginal. More than half of the
Aboriginal adult population did not complete high
school.