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Weekly UpdatesWhen the only way in or out of a community is by air or ice road, operational only for a few months a year, access to quality education can be a struggle.
Education is a major ongoing challenge for Nishnawbe Aski Nation, said Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose who represents 49 First Nation communities across northwestern Ontario.
Thirty four of those communities are considered isolated remote First Nations with access limited to air and winter roads for two-to-three months a year.
"Education is very important to our leadership ... we do have a lot of challenges when it comes to access," Waboose said.
Many of the NAN's schools are band operated, Waboose explained, and their funding comes from the Department of Indian Affairs.
"That in itself creates another set of challenges," he said. The limited finances appropriated to First Nation schools has created a lack of schools in some communities and overcrowding in others.
"Right now we have a 10 to 12 year backlog of new school construction," Waboose said.
His area has Kindergarten to Grade 8, with some larger communities also having high schools.
"Even though they have a high school, some may just have Grade 9 and 10 or certain components of a high school program."
"There is still a lot of our students that once they passed Grade 8 have to come to urban centres, such as Thunder Bay, Timmins, North Bay, to attend not only high school but post-secondary institutions," Waboose said.
"I don't see it anywhere else in the country Even I was able to go home everyday from school--even for lunch."
First Nation communities with schools require major upgrades or renovations, Waboose said, explaining many are infested with mould, or have serious heating and ventilation issues.
At the same time the Department of Indian Affairs still require First Nation schools to meet the provincial standards in order to be accepted in higher level institutions, he said.
"There are gaps in First Nation education nationally. Some schools are two to three grades behind," Waboose said, adding that according to recent auditor general reports, it would take 20 to 28 years to close these gaps.
Most of these remote communities, struggling regularly with access to the outside world are using technology to connect to educational opportunities.
The Keewaytinook Internet High School (KiHS) runs in the majority of NAN's communities and is offered to non-Native communities.
NAN also has agreements with many post-secondary institutions in Northern Ontario including Laurentian University, Northern College and Lakehead University, Waboose said, and they offer the Oshki-Pimache-O-Win Education and Training Institute to all 49 of its communities.
"The institute offers training in all kinds of vocations similar to a college-type program. We are building capacity at that level as well," he said.
No doubt there are logistical challenges to education in many Northern Ontario First Nation communities, said Simone Chisholm, director of marketing and communications at Contact North.
But through more than 22 service agreements with First Nation communities residents have many of the same educational opportunities as anywhere in the region, she said.
Their classrooms may just be different.
"We are the link between post-secondary institutions in Northern Ontario and remote communities," she said.
Contact North centres are usually located and operated in the band offices, she said, explaining Contact North provides computers, live online courses, audio-conferencing technology, training for the band staff and other resources and services.
"We provide the exact same resources."
Other programs offered by Contact North in remote Aboriginal communities are the Independent Learning Centre (ILC) programs and a new e-Channel Literacy Learners program, she explained.
"There are people who have been working for 20 years at mines and mills making good Northern Ontario livings and don't have a high school education," Chisholm said. "Then the mill or mine closes and they have very little second career options because they lack a high school degree."
The First Nation communities are not only working on solutions to immediate problems, but also long-term policies to benefit all.
"NAN is in discussions with the federal government on the jurisdiction of education, which would mean taking over the whole education system with proper funding, proper resources," Waboose said.
"Rather than having a federal bureaucracy to handle our administration on our behalf, we could do it ourselves."
These talks have been ongoing for some 10 years, Waboose said, "but we are coming to a point where we are concluding an agreement in principle."
By JAMES NEELEY
Northern Ontario Business
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