Improving Primary and Secondary Education on Reserves in Canada

In his report Aboriginal Peoples and Postsecondary Education in Canada (Caledon Institute of Social Policy, July 2006), Michael Mendelson found that a very high percentage of Aboriginal students were not completing high school, especially those who lived on reserve.  In this commentary, Mendelson sets out proposals for improving primary and secondary education for residents of reserves.  He argues that many reserve schools are organized on the ‘village school’ model that prevailed in rural Canada before the creation of modern consolidated school boards.  He argues for the creation of a First Nations-owned and  -controlled school system.  Mendelson proposes that a First National Education Act replace the current education sections of the Indian Act to provide a legal framework enabling the evolution of First Nations school boards that reflect the characteristics of each region.

ISBN – 1-55382-207-2