The Yukon Territory Government and Aboriginals agreed to separate the school board from the Aboriginal school

The Yukon Territory Government and Aboriginals agreed to separate the school board from the Aboriginal school

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The Yukon Territory Government has agreed to establish a separate school board for Aboriginals, paving the way for schools specifically for Aboriginal students in the area.

The Yukon Territory Government and 10 of the region’s 14 First Nations School Board Framework Agreements set out the procedures for establishing a school board in accordance with the region’s education laws. It does not include a timetable.

“I can tell you that our government is absolutely committed to achieving this goal,” Education Secretary Jeanne McLean said at a press conference on Thursday morning.

The agreement marks a “historical turning point at the national and regional levels,” said Dana Tizya-Tramm, chief of Vuntut Gwitchin, who is the chairman of the chief’s education committee. Established a few years ago Designed to improve the performance of indigenous students.

“The only way forward is for the colonial government to recognize the power of the Yukon Native Way and give up the power to establish true relationships and partnerships.”

‘Mode shift’

The agreement describes how the board of directors will be established and how existing schools choose to belong to the board of directors. It also details how to negotiate funding for the board of directors.

According to the 2016 Census of Statistics Canada, approximately 23.3% of the Yukon’s population is Aboriginal.

Dana Tizya-Tramm, Chairman of the Chief’s Board of Education, said: “The only way forward is for the colonial government to recognize the power of the Yukon Aboriginal ways and give up the power to establish true relationships and partnerships.” (McCrudec/Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

A recent report from the Yukon Department of Education stated that the proportion of public school students in the region who claimed to be Yukon Natives was similar in the 2018-19 school year, at about 23%. The Yukon Aboriginal Education Bureau, an independent agency established last year to help create an independent school board, believes that the true number may be higher than this number because some students choose not to recognize themselves as aboriginals.

The schools operated by the new board will not be dedicated to indigenous students. Any student can register.

However, Tizya-Tramm said that this kind of education will be very different from those offered by other public schools. He described a land-based education system, involving the elderly and other community members, and alternative methods of assessing progress.

He said this would represent a “paradigm shift” in the education of indigenous students, some of whom are struggling under the current system.

“As we know, our land, our animals and our plants are our greatest teachers. Moving the children who grew up on the land in our history and putting them under fluorescent lights is not conducive to the best way of learning. ,”He says.

“When you see that the Aboriginal schools in our community are managed by our elders, our community and experience knowledge, other Canadians and Yukon people will look at the children in their school system and they will want the same .”

A report released this week by the Office of Children and Youth Advocacy in the region found that compared with non-Aboriginal students, Yukon’s Aboriginal students have a much higher rate of long-term absenteeism. (Chris Wendell/Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

Long-term absenteeism

The announcement follows the release of two separate reports on the education system in the region this week, one of which comes from the Office of Children and Youth Advocacy in the region About absenteeism.

The report found that compared with non-Aboriginal students, Yukon Aboriginal students have a much higher rate of long-term absenteeism. Interviewers talked with students, teachers, parents, administrators, and indigenous leaders and found that there is a general frustration with the school system rooted in colonialism, including unhelpful policies and lack of support for students.

Another report is based on a review of inclusive and special education. It describes a system that is not built to serve students, who usually cannot understand their own culture or language.

Thursday’s announcement was also made on the occasion of a week, when many people were dealing with new wounds and grief to the legacy of the boarding school run by the church.On Monday, thousands of people marched through downtown Whitehorse and Vigil For the children whose bodies were recently found on the land of a former boarding school in Kamloops, British Columbia

Tizya-Tramm said: “For many people, this is an exciting week.” “Remind us that this country, this territory, uses schools for systematic genocide and cannot bury its past.”

McLean became emotional when referring to Kamloops’ discovery, saying it “is a stern reminder of the long history of colonial violence in Canadian educational institutions, including the Yukon.”

“Through education, we can solve the legacy of boarding schools and the hazards of colonialism… The road is there, and we will walk together,” she said.

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