Challenges in Aborigine Education

Challenges in Aborigine Education

Introduction

The aboriginal communities in Canada have historically had a very low employment rate as well as labor force participation as compared to the non-aboriginal population. The apparent trend was made even worse with the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009, as the aboriginal population was severely affected for a very long duration. The prime root that creates the employment barrier for the aborigine people in Canada is that of education as it is the social welfare determinant for the aboriginal communities. Though Canada is well known for having one of the best education systems in the world, this isn’t reflected within the aborigine communities as students of aborigine heritage do experience the lowest graduation rates as compared to others (Neeganagwedgin, 2013). The well being of the first community in Canada is a major talking point in the nation as efforts are being taken in terms of research about their issues. Despite this, there isn’t much action being done in addressing the problem of education despite media attention, fully focusing on the problem. The issue of education is complex as the country is struggling with ways to bring about a solution that affects the lives of its citizens. The modern educational issue that the aborigines in Canada face that contributes to their high unemployment rate is due to the historical challenges that they faced that are visible till now.

Historical Colonialism

Historical colonialism has had a very profound effect on how the members of the first nation communities are treated in the country. This greatly explains why the provision of education, as well as a host of other social services, has been poor over the years. It is noted that the nation’s history is generally intertwined with incidences of discrimination, violence among other acts of imperialism that have contributed greatly to the marginalization that the aboriginals face even in how they receive education services (Scully, 2012). The acts of imperialism that the aboriginals were subjected to during the past have presented various challenges that have contributed to the discrimination and marginalization of groups through war. This meant that there were certain groups that were considered important, while others were disregarded completely, an issue that affects them to date.

The acts of imperialism brought about assimilation in which children of the first nations faced education that was out of the context of their culture and worked towards dividing them from their native ancestry. First nation schools were established and were run by the European governments, this was followed by the establishment of the Indian Acts of 18776 and 1880 that took away the aboriginal’s right to have a self-determined government or even social service (Scully, 2012). This led to institutionalized schooling that led to the separation of the first nation children and the rest. It was at this point that reserve education lost focus as the state focused its efforts on creating schools and education curriculum for the non-aboriginals. It is at this juncture that the lack of educational services for the first nation families took root, thereby affecting the way in which they would receive education till now.

Institutionalized Schooling

The inception of institutionalized schooling for the aboriginal communities marked the beginning of the issues in education that the aboriginals faced up to today. It is noted that historically, educational services were deeply rooted within the control of the federal government (Scully, 2012). This altered the socio-political landscape in the sense that the state had already segregated and marginalized the aboriginal communities as they were termed as savages; thus, education would serve no purpose for them. Institutionalized schooling led to the creation of reserve schools, which did have a bearing on nature as well as the quality of education that the aboriginals received in school.

There wasn’t much attention given towards the education of aboriginals in these reserve schools as most of them lacked the proper facilities. During this time, the country was still coping with the apparent fallout of neglect and abuse of the aboriginals; thus, education was not a major priority for the state. Schools on reserve weren’t providing the children with the required form of education, yet again it was rather difficult for the aboriginals’ families to take their kids to schools off-reserve as they would suffer discrimination (Scully, 2012). The regulation of schools, as well as poor government intervention in the provision of learning materials, became the basis of some of the challenges that the first nation children faced in schools. The same trend seems to carry on till now as educational services aren’t fully delivered to the aboriginals. This affects their overall ability to secure jobs in the competitive labor market.

Mismanagement of social infrastructure

One of the major issues that hindered the reception of education for the aboriginals happens to be the apparent mismanagement of social infrastructure, the regulations and the social services that were directed towards the aborigines. The culmination of this ensured that the aborigines did not receive the quality education as non-aboriginals received.

The apparent lack of regulations and the lack of management of schools did contribute to the high nature of illiteracy among the aborigines.  The state did not place any regulation for the aborigines that would have their children attend early childhood education. This is noted to have contributed to 90% of illiteracy among aboriginals as the children were left in the care of a government that simply was not concerned with them (Munroe et al., 2013). Aboriginal children who attend schools on reserve are noted to fall behind in the national graduation averages. Mismanagement and lack of regulations mean that the resources for schools on reserve were pale in comparison to off-reserve schools. It is also noted that these reserve schools lack district services that ensure the provision of infrastructure that supports the general management and maintenance of guiding and building regulatory authority (Munroe et al., 2013). This means that they have little or even at times, lack the support necessary to ensure that the quality of education that is provided is top-notch. This, in the long run, ensures that the children regress in their education hence suffer when looking for employment.

In conclusion, the apparent fate of the aboriginal community does depend greatly on the nature of education that they are able to receive. Their desire is simply that of being allowed to benefit from the educational services just like other citizens in order for them to change their employment situation. It is seen that the challenges in education that the first nation face is buried in colonization and is actually a very difficult problem to resolve. Education does play a fundamental role in ensuring that the aboriginals are capable of competing in the job market.

References

Munroe, E., Borden, L., Murray Orr, A., Toney, D.,&Meader, J. (2013). Decolonizing Aboriginal education in the 21st century. McGill Journal of Education/Revue des sciences de l’éducation de McGill, 48(2), 317-337.

Neeganagwedgin, E. (2013). A critical review of Aboriginal education in Canada: Eurocentric dominance impact and everyday denial. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17(1), 15-31.

Scully, A. (2012). Decolonization, reinhabitation and reconciliation: Aboriginal and place-based education. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education (CJEE), 17, 148-158.