Education ministers here next week
Attracting more aboriginal educators to the North and teaching the legacy of residential schools to be on agenda
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Saturday, June 27, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Making sure that residential schools curriculum is taught to students across Canada and retaining and attracting more aboriginal teachers to the NWT are two of the main goals for NWT Education Minister Jackson Lafferty as he hosts his provincial and territorial counterparts next week.
The education ministers will be in Yellowknife on Monday and Tuesday for the first Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) aboriginal educators symposium.
Education Minister Jackson Lafferty listens to a question from the media at a news conference at the legislative assembly on Thursday. He was announcing that the first-ever aboriginal educators' symposium will be held in Yellowknife next week when education ministers from across the country converge on the city. - John McFadden/NNSL photo
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The event brings together delegations of aboriginal educators and elders from across Canada to help find ways of encouraging more aboriginal people to pursue a teaching career and keep more aboriginals in the teaching profession.
The agenda includes presentations by indigenous schools, talking circles and elders' sharing.
"This meeting is very special to me on a personal level because at last year's CMEC meeting my Alberta counterpart and I submitted a national strategy to speed up efforts to reduce the gap in academic achievement and the graduation rates between aboriginal and non-aboriginal students," Lafferty said.
Ministers will be meeting with a representative of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to review its findings and recommendations from its recently released report on the legacy of residential schools - in particular those related to education.
"Recommendation number 63 (in the truth and reconciliation report) calls on CMEC to maintain an annual commitment to aboriginal education issues including the evolution of residential schools curriculum and sharing best practices on teaching students about residential schools and aboriginal history," Lafferty said. "The important thing is that we accept our responsibility to do our part, to right the wrongs that so many aboriginal people have experienced. We cannot change the past but we can work on building a better future for all Canadians."
It is important for all teachers to educate students on the residential schools legacy but it is that much more important that NWT students hear it from aboriginal teachers, Lafferty said.
"Having our own aboriginal educators helps because they are viewed as mentors and role models," Lafferty said. "Once we have more qualified aboriginal educators who can speak the local language will be a huge asset."
About 75 delegates are expected to be in Yellowknife for the symposium. Lafferty said it is costing about $200,000 to host the event. The funding is split between the territorial and federal governments. The aboriginal educators symposium is coinciding with the 104th meeting of CMEC.
