Deal reached to help First Nations students

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – BC’s child watchdog and First Nations leaders want aboriginal kids to succeed at school and avoid the traps of poverty and its huge financial and social costs. The two sides have signed a deal to make that happen.

Child and Youth Representative Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says just half of First Nations kids graduate, even less in government care, so the province needs to target money specifically a First Nations children in schools to avoid having them fail and fall into poverty as adults.

“So more learning plans for Aboriginal children that have some individual goals that will see them meet targets, not wait until the end of grade 12 to find out they aren’t going to graduate, but we’re talking right at the kindergarten level.  So we need to put the resources [in.]”
    
First Nations leaders say yearly reports can help show how aboriginal kids are doing in each school, grade, and subject.

Sto:lo First Nation leader Tyrone McNeil they want to measure how each aboriginal kid is doing in each school so they can plan lessons for them, have more graduate and steer away from poverty and dependence.

“We have two different Science 10 classes.  In one school [for] Science 10, 60% of the kids are graduating successfully.  In the Science 10 class in another school, 80% of the kids are failing.  That kind of data tells me that’s probably not our kids.  That’s something else in the school.”

Aboriginal children make up 10% of BC’s students.

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