Saskatchewan’s young and growing Indigenous population makes better post-secondary education options and funding for them critical.
Indigenous people are the future of Canada with the youngest, fastest-growing population in the country.
In Saskatchewan, Indigenous people (First Nation, Inuit, and Métis) make up 17 per cent of the population, with nearly half under the age of 25, much younger than the median age of 41.3 years for non-Indigenous residents.
As more baby boomers retire, Indigenous youth will be coming of age and poised to be a tremendous source of energy, intellect and potential.
The key will be empowering the full potential of Indigenous youth through innovative, historically informed, future-forward, culturally strong, and holistic education that leads to meaningful livelihoods.
Clearly, this collective effort benefits and is good for us all.
Unfortunately, the story of Indigenous education in Canada is one we know well, a history of education systems failing Indigenous children and communities.
From racist policies enacted through the Indian residential school system to decades of reports showing the chronic underfunding and under-resourcing of Indigenous education.
We see these realities reflected in the gap in educational outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
But there is another, less well-known story. It is a story of success, progress, healing, innovation, advancement and self-determination. This is the story of Indigenous post-secondary institutions.
There are more than 80 Indigenous post-secondary institutions in Canada, controlled and directed by First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.
And they are extremely effective. Indigenous post-secondaries produce graduation rates of 75 to 85 per cent, according to the Indigenous Institutes Consortium.
This is above the national rates of 55 to 75 per cent and the Saskatchewan provincial rates of 60 to 63 per cent based on recent Statistics Canada data.
Indigenous post-secondaries do this by delivering high-quality programming that meets community needs, and integrates Indigenous languages, knowledges and approaches into the education system.
They provide holistic supports to enable Indigenous students to focus on their studies and reach their academic and career goals.
And it remains as critical today as it was when First Nations University of Canada (then the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College) first opened in 1976.
We have seen how Indigenous post-secondary education propels innovation, community economic development, entrepreneurship, and contributes to thriving communities.
Despite the clear case for resourcing Indigenous post-secondaries, they continue to face chronic underfunding. This year, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO called the funding gap “one of the greatest inequities that exists between public and Indigenous institutes.”
The Indigenous Advanced Skills and Education Council stated that Indigenous institutions “may receive a fraction of the funds that public institutions do” — between five and 25 per cent.
The path forward is clear. Indigenous youth matter; they are drivers of our collective prosperous future. Canada needs to get behind Indigenous post-secondaries and work with and invest in them with sustainable, equitable funding, full accreditation and academic autonomy.
Indigenous communities have demonstrated that this model works. Governments, universities and colleges, the private sector and the philanthropic sector can play a meaningful role by uplifting and supporting Indigenous institutions to lead.
Canada and all people living in this country have responsibilities to be good partners and we have the chance to be part of this different story — one of transformation.
Together, we can make the right choice, to invest in healthy, educated and engaged generations of Indigenous young people, confident in their identities, cultures, histories and futures.
This is the story we want to be part of and the story we owe to young people today and seven generations into the future.
Mizowaykomiguk paypomwayotung (Jacqueline Ottmann) is the president of First Nations University of Canada and Jennifer Brennan is the director of Canada Programs at the Mastercard Foundation.
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