Census data shows 3 First Nations lagging behind neighbouring communities in educational achievement

A Université de Moncton economist has found important disparities between New Brunswick's three largest First Nations and their neighboring communities. And First Nations are using the data to make a case for more reliable federal education funding. Pierre-Marcel Desjardins looked at census data for three First Nations, Nogoktuk, Eskinovich and Elsabuktuk. He then looked at the same data for three neighboring communities, Perth-Andover, Nagawak, and Rexton. I never thought that the gap between the three nations and their neighboring communities would be that great. And to me, that meant that something has to be done and fast because we're losing some of those kids that do not achieve. Um, uh... or fulfill everything that they could if they had the support that is required. One of the gaps Desjardins found was in educational achievement. The data showed that in 2021 the three nations had less than half the share of university degrees and far more people with no high school diploma. Similar disparities showed up in unemployment statistics as well as income levels between the two groups. Over at Elsabuktuk First Nation, Ivan Augustine is not surprised by Desjardins' findings. He says the Elsabuktuk school has more high-needs children than most provincial schools, and that relates back to trauma originating in the residential school system. Because the idea of residential school was to destroy the Mi'kmaq family, and they did it through the kids. And the people of the residential school years, they had great foresight that if we do this, we'll hurt the families in the long, long, long run. And that's what we see now. Augustine says it's up to the federal government to address those harms. He's added the Desjardins report to the evidence he's shared with federal funders and says he needs more and more reliable education funding. So right now we have an interim funding formula, we could, we run a school with that, just like the neighboring school here, we do that, but the funding is insufficient to meet the total needs of our kids. So that's why we submit this needs-based funding to government three, four years ago, three years ago, and now we're in the queue waiting for an answer. Augustine says he wants to move away from temporary funding agreements, which he uses now to meet specialized student needs and provide cultural programming. Instead, he'd like to see long-term, needs-based funding from Indigenous Services Canada. Let's give kids the resources that they need, and that's what this funding proposal is all about. And if we're successful with it, we will be able to do a lot more, A lot more in our schools to meet the needs of our kids. Elsa Bukduk is a member of Three Nations Education Group, which commissioned the Desjardins study. The group is also seeking federal funding so that it can provide curriculum development, training and advocacy services to its member nations.