10 Yukon First Nations have agreed to be a part.
Today the Government of Yukon and the Chiefs Committee on Education announced the finalization of the Yukon First Nation School Board Framework Agreement. The agreement sets up the path to the eventual creation of a First Nation School Board.
Chair of the Chiefs Committee on Education Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm says this is a big step for Yukon First Nations to take greater control of their education. The announcement comes at a time when the country is grieving after the discovery of a mass children’s grave at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C
“This has been an emotional week for so many, with the horrific reminder of the atrocities of residential schools, unearthed in Kamloops, B.C. A reminder that this country, this territory, used schools to carry out a systematic genocide and can not burry it’s past.” Says Chief Tizya-Tramm.
There is no time line yet on when the First Nation School Board will be established by.
“It really is incumbent on the school boards to pass a resolution in a respective community, and there’s number of steps that folks will have to go through to establish that, including a vote... and then another number of steps that would bring us to a point where we can establish a Yukon First Nations School Board.” Says Education Minister Jeanie McLean.
10 of the Yukon First Nations have signed on to the agreement.
The announcement is even more timely with two reports released earlier this week that found Yukon First Nations student’s learning needs are not being met.
The final report of the review of Inclusive and special education in the Yukon was released yesterday.
The report finds that student's diverse learning needs are not being met. It also looks at how the education system can be improved for Yukon First Nations. Dr. Nikki Yee is an educator with a doctorate in special education from the University of British Columbia. Over the past year and half, they have talked to almost 400 people. They found that ongoing colonialism was a key factor in many of respondents’ experiences. The report says that challenges in inclusive and special education can be understood as part of the larger colonial context, which causes violence towards first nations people, one example being residential schools. Many respondents in the report said they see underlying ideas of residential schools continuing to hurt First Nations children today.
On Monday, in the Legislative Assembly, the Speaker of the House tabled a report called Review on School Attendance in the Yukon: What is, What Could Be.
That report found that of the kids that chronically miss school, 55 percent identify as Yukon First Nations.
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