Gary Coons

Both the federal and the provincial governments need to take the advice offered in the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation’s report: Factors Affecting The Use of Student Financial Assistance by First Nations Youth, says North Coast MLA Gary Coons.

“The foundation has laid out a roadmap for our governments to enhance access to post-secondary education among First Nations people,” said Coons. “The recommendations in this report are straight forward and they make sense.”

Some of the Foundation recommendations are as follows:

1.More human resources or better trained support staff dedicated to educating First Nations youth about post-secondary education funding.

2.More funding opportunities for First Nations students.

3.More funding and support to increase Internet access and connectivity.

“I think the British Columbian government, in particular, should be ensuring that internet access is available in northern communities,” said Coons, “not just in personal homes, but publicly available. This report makes it clear that internet access increases knowledge about post-secondary funding opportunities.”

The report also noted that there is a gap between what First Nations youth expect from bands in terms of education funding, and the actual funding available.

“First Nations youth need more access to peers and role models who can help them build a realistic plan for their education,” said Coons. “The British Columbian and Canadian governments need to step up to the plate, and make sure that First Nations youth have all the information they need to make informed educational decisions.”

Only nine percent of aboriginal Canadians have post-secondary degrees, compared to 23 percent of non-aboriginal Canadians.

“First Nations youth are not the only ones losing opportunities when they choose not to pursue post-secondary education because of funding issues,” said Coons. “As a province and as a country, we are losing out on the skills that First Nations students could share with us.”