AGREEMENT HELPS WEST VANCOUVER ISLAND STUDENTS

TSAXANA – Aboriginal leaders and Vancouver Island West school district representatives signed the district’s first Aboriginal education enhancement agreement to help improve Aboriginal student success, Education Minister Shirley Bond announced today.

“One of our goals is to increase Aboriginal student success, and this agreement will help Vancouver Island West Aboriginal students achieve their best,” said Bond. “With more than half of the student population in the Vancouver Island West school district being Aboriginal, this agreement is important because it helps ensure Aboriginal communities have a voice in the education of their children.”

Local Aboriginal communities, the Ministry of Education and the school district worked closely to develop several strategies to help improve student success in this first agreement, which include:

· A caring understanding of the recent past.

· All students in Vancouver Island West schools will increase their knowledge and understanding of the history of Aboriginal people in Canada.

· All Aboriginal students will complete an accredited K-8 Nuu-chah-nulth language program.

· Developing a buddy program for student mentorship.

· Aboriginal students will successfully complete courses offered in the community setting, which will increase the number of Aboriginal students who graduate with the requirements for post-secondary studies.

· Increased involvement from Aboriginal families, community and elders.

“The Vancouver Island West School District is committed to improving the learning and life opportunities for Aboriginal students,” said Lawrence Tarasoff, superintendent of the Vancouver Island West School District. “Today’s agreement formalizes an ongoing process in which the district and our Aboriginal communities are working together to meet the needs of our Aboriginal students and ensure their success.”

Including today’s agreement, 43 B.C. school districts have signed Aboriginal education enhancement agreements to date. These agreements support the Province’s Pacific Leadership Agenda to build new relationships with First Nations, and to close gaps in education and economic opportunities.

“We are honoured to be able to pass on our knowledge to our students,” said Natalie Jack, representative from the Kyuquot Checleset First Nation and mother of four. “This new agreement will ensure our youth will be able to learn their culture in the classroom and open the minds of all students in Vancouver Island West.”

School districts have seen encouraging results following the signing of education enhancement agreements. For example, in the Fort Nelson school district, which signed an agreement in February 2006, the Aboriginal student completion rate rose from 62 per cent in 2004-05 to 84 per cent in 2006-07.

These agreements are one component of the Province’s strategy to improve Aboriginal student achievement. Others include the new First Nations education jurisdiction agreement and the development of Aboriginal content for K-12 curriculum.

The Province is investing an estimated $51.1 million a year – $1,014 per student – for Aboriginal education in 2008-09. The funds are used to support Aboriginal language and culture programs, Aboriginal support service programs, and other localized Aboriginal education programs.

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Media contact:	Public Affairs Bureau Ministry of Education 250 356-5963

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