VICTORIA — Teachers in British Columbia will devote one of their professional development days next year to aboriginal education, the education minister said Friday.
The change coincides with government plans to introduce school curriculum changes that focus on First Nations culture and history, including the discriminatory residential school system.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender said it marks the first time aboriginal education is the sole focus of a professional development day where teachers gather for day-long conferences without their students in class.
B.C. teachers have six annual professional development days as part of their collective agreement, and the government is able to decide the development topic for one of those days. The government has chosen to focus past professional development days on anti-bullying initiatives.
B.C. will introduce education curriculum changes next year that will see students learn about aboriginal culture and history.
Students as young as 10 will soon be taught that past government policies towards Aboriginal Peoples resulted in the crushing legacy of Canada's residential-school system.
Starting in Grade 5, students will learn about residential schools and other racist government programs, such as the Chinese Head Tax, as part of a new kindergarten-to-Grade-12 education curriculum.
The recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission report into Canada's residential school experience recommended the creation and funding of aboriginal-education legislation.
After six years of hearings, the report concluded Canada's residential-school system was a form of cultural genocide.
Fassbender said in a statement B.C. is committed to improving education outcomes for aboriginal students and promoting greater understanding, empathy and respect for aboriginal history and culture among students and their families through the revised curriculum.
He signed a protocol agreement Friday with First Nations educators that aims to guide collaboration efforts on aboriginal education.
There are about 66,000 aboriginal students in B.C.'s public and independent schools, comprising about 10.5 per cent of the total student population.
A joint report from the B.C. provincial health officer and children's representative released Thursday found that graduation rates among B.C. aboriginal students are rising but there are still too many students leaving school or not achieving at school.
The report also found aboriginal children make up eight per cent of the children and youth in B.C., but 50 per cent of the more than 8,000 children in government care.
That number is expected to rise to 60 per cent within the next five years, said children and youth representative Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond.
The report found that 60 per cent of youth in government care do not graduate from high school.
"The education system for many aboriginal children and youth in B.C. is a broken system," Turpel-Lafond said. "We are seeing far too many aboriginal children in B.C. not in school."
