New Education Programs
TO: First Nations Leadership
DATE: December 4, 2008
FROM: Sara General, Education Coordinator
RE: New Education Programs
Issue:
The purpose of this briefing note is to provide an update to First Nations leadership about two new Indian and Northern Affairs Canada initiatives, the First Nation Student Success program and the First Nation Partnership program.Background:
On July 24, 2008, Chuck Strahl, Minister for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, issued correspondence to Chiefs and Councils across Canada to share “the Government of Canada‟s plans to reform First Nations education to help improve the lives of First Nations children now and for generations to come.”
Minister Strahl indicated that further to the $70 million dollar allocation for “results based accountability measures and partnerships with willing First Nations and provinces for students attending schools on reserve…this commitment has been extended, bringing total new investments in education to $268 million over five years, and $75 million ongoing.”1 The letter also outlines areas to improve success plans for student outcomes including; data development and performance management, assessment of students‟ levels in reading, writing and math; public reporting; and sharing expertise through tripartite agreements with First Nation and provincial governments with partnerships pursued at an aggregate level. This funding is targeted specifically to K-12 and is targeted for release on April 1, 2009. No guidelines for accessing the funds or additional information have been released.
On December 2, 2008 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) announced the launch of these two education program initiatives along with the program guidelines. These two initiatives are called First Nation Student Success (FNSSP) and First Nation Partnership Program. They are both optional, proposal based programs.
First Nation Student Success Program
The guidelines indicate that the objective of this program is to „improve achievement of First Nation students on reserve by focusing on the priority areas of literacy, numeracy and student retention‟2.
Recipients of program funding can be First Nations with on reserve band operated schools and federal schools, First Nation organizations with dedicated Education Units, with priority given to regional First Nation organizations representing an aggregation of band operated schools. Schools may not be represented by more than one recipient3.
The program consists of the following mandatory components:
School Success Plans
Student Learning Assessments
Performance Measurement
The 3 mandatory components are to be initiated within a three year cycle.
>> Download memo New Education Programs.
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