Honouring the Truth Reconciling for the Future

196 • Truth & Reconciliation Commissionhanded over to the First Nation bands to run, but without giving the bands the meansto operate them effectively. As a result, the curriculum for the majority of First Nationschools is virtually identical to that found in the provincial and territorial schools. 59This approach is not significantly different from the approach during the residentialschool era, when Indigenous communities had no say in the content and language oftheir children’s schooling.The funding formula for First Nations schools was last updated in 1996, and doesnot take into account the range of basic and contemporary education componentsneeded to deliver a good-quality education in the twenty-first century, such as informationand communication technologies, sports and recreation, language proficiency,and library services. 60 Worse still, since 1996, funding growth for First Nationseducation has been capped at 2%, an amount that has been insufficient to keep pacewith either inflation or the rapid increases in the Aboriginal student population. 61Meanwhile, between 1996 and 2006, funding to provincial and territorial school systemsincreased annually by 3.8%, almost double the increase for reserve schools. 62The underfunding of reserve schools likely violates Treaty promises about education,and makes it very difficult to overcome the educational and consequent income gaps.In many cases, the fees that First Nations are charged when they send their childrento provincial schools are higher than the amount of funding they receive from Canadaper student. 63Calls to Action8) We call upon the federal government to eliminate the discrepancy in federal educationfunding for First Nations children being educated on reserves and thoseFirst Nations children being educated off reserves.9) We call upon the federal government to prepare and publish annual reportscomparing funding for the education of First Nations children on and off reserves,as well as educational and income attainments of Aboriginal peoples in Canadacompared with non-Aboriginal people.Education reformSince 2011, three major reports on First Nations education have concluded that thestatus quo is unacceptable and that there is a need for a complete restructuring basedon principles of self-government, a culturally relevant curriculum, and stable funding.All three reports agree that Aboriginal peoples themselves must lead and control theprocess of change. 64