Our Children Our Future Our Vision - People for Education

Our Children, Our Future, Our Vision
• Instability of funding inhibits planning;
• Lack of accountability to First Nations by the provincial school system;
• Teacher quality and retention.
4. Given the realities in Ontario / your community, what works best, and doesn’t work well in
education?
What works best?
• Culture and language programming in the curriculum;
• Good relations between First Nations and public school boards;
• First Nations exercising control over education;
• Indigenous knowledge is utilized;
• Strong tuition agreements with public school boards;
• Taking a rights-based approach and;
• Setting our own standards.
What doesn’t work well?
• Inadequate funding;
• Lack of second and third level services;
• Political micromanagement;
• Underestimation of student ability;
• No economy of scale – small/isolated;
• Poor relations with school boards;
• High turnover of teachers;
• Difficult transitions for students.
5. What would best support a quality education system that would serve the needs of the
First Nation learners in Ontario/in your community?
• Revitalize language, culture and traditional teachings and infuse them into the educational
system;
• Design our own quality education system;
• Receive reliable, flexible and comparable funding;
• Establish our own “boards” of education;
• Educate the non-First Nation population on the reality of our conditions, our history and
Treaties;
• Increase parental and community involvement;
• Focus on holistic vision of lifelong learning;
• Separate education and politics;
Chiefs of Ontario
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