Doors are opening to Indigenous students

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This article was published 13/04/2024 (588 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The sharp rise in domestic student applications at Brandon University reported last week by the Sun’s Abiola Odutola was a welcome return to normalcy for the university, but a statistic contained in the story was perhaps even more significant.

Applications from students identifying as Indigenous have shot up by 29 per cent from last year, the highest numbers in half a decade. The increase embraces all faculties, with education (43 per cent) and science (42 per cent) at the top, followed by music (25 per cent), arts (23 per cent) and health studies (14 per cent).

The near-doubling of applicants interested in pursuing a future in education is an especially important development. Early this year, the chairs of two school divisions in Winnipeg called on the province to take steps to increase the number of Indigenous teachers in the system. They described the need as urgent, since “the demand for certified Indigenous teachers continues to dwarf the supply.”

The main reason there is a need is that Indigenous students are more likely to achieve academic success if they can relate to the teaching staff and the perspectives they bring to the classroom.

The ultimate goal is to close the perennial gap in graduation rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.

Educational attainment for Indigenous Canadians has been quietly trending upward in recent years, but the general picture has not been positive. Last fall, Statistic Canada reported that the number of on-reserve status First Nations people aged 18 to 24 who finished high school climbed from 41.9 per cent in 2016 to 53.3 per cent by 2021. That’s a big jump, but still far below the 89.6 per cent graduation rate for non-Indigenous Canadians. The increase was less dramatic, but the base numbers were higher to start with, for status First Nation people living off-reserve, whose graduation rates went from 68.4 per cent to 73.3 per cent during the same five-year period.

These low completion rates are holding Indigenous Canadians back, limiting their employment opportunities and reducing their quality of life. The spillover effects are enormous.

Manitoba’s post-secondary institutions have been pulling out all stops to turn things around, with measures ranging from BU’s inclusion of important Indigenization language in its new collective agreement with faculty to the University of Manitoba holding its first-ever Indigenous Leaders gala last November, with student-nominated awards including one for “most Cree-ative” student.

The province is well aware of the historic challenge. Responding to the letter from the school board chairs, Advanced Education and Training Minister Renée Cable pointed out the NDP, since taking office, has created a new assistant deputy minister position for Indigenous excellence in education, University College of the North has expanded its Indigenous teacher-focused bachelor of education program and government officials are meeting with all the relevant stakeholders to find ways to improve the situation. The minister stressed how committed the province is to tackling the issue.

With Premier Wab Kinew at the helm, this is one case where the politicians are believably sincere in their assurances. Because it would be hard to imagine any issue that is nearer and dearer to the premier.

Most of us recall Kinew’s victory speech last October, when he memorably addressed Indigenous youth using a slang term for relative.

“I want to speak to the young Neechies out there,” he said. “I was given a second chance in life. And I would like to think that I’ve made good on that opportunity. And you can do the same.”

He also told them: “My life became immeasurably better when I stopped making excuses and I started looking for a reason. And I found that reason in our family, I found that reason in our community. And I found that reason in our province and country.”

Change can happen, he said. “But here’s the thing. You have to want it. If you want to leave the party lifestyle behind, it has to be you to make the decision.”

Those were inspiring words when the premier-designate said them, and they still resonate today.

On the educational front, doors are opening — and judging by the latest batch of applications at BU, Indigenous students are walking in.

» John Gleeson, night editor