Archived News Releases

Advanced Education and Training Minister Diane McGifford and Education, Citizenship and Youth Minister Peter Bjornson today introduced the province's new Aboriginal Education Action Plan and highlighted an initiative aimed at keeping Aboriginal students in school.

Increased high school graduation rates and employment opportunities for Aboriginal students are key goals of the new strategy. As part of the plan, the province has allocated $400,000 to 38 projects in schools across the province aimed at increasing the involvement of Aboriginal parents and families in education. The new initiative is called Building Student Success with Aboriginal Parents.

"This funding will help educators reach Aboriginal parents, since parents and other family members play a major role in helping students complete their high school education," Bjornson said. "This initiative will increase the level of involvement of Aboriginal parents in the education process and significantly increase the range of opportunities available to children and youth."

"Aboriginal students need the opportunity to complete high school and pursue post-secondary education and training for success in the labour market now and in the future," McGifford said. "The Aboriginal Education Action Plan outlines the steps Manitoba will take to assist Aboriginal students to reach these goals."

The Aboriginal Education Action Plan features four main objectives which focus on increasing:

• high school graduation rates,
• access to and completion of post-secondary education,
• entry and participation in the labour market, and
• research on Aboriginal education and employment.

"We need to reassure Aboriginal students that the pursuit of education can respect and reflect their cultural values, perceptions and traditions," said Bjornson. "Manitoba's action plan will increase our success in this area."

The plan involves a number of steps including:

• working with partners to establish Aboriginal graduation rate targets;
• incorporating Aboriginal perspectives into the curriculum and student teacher training;
• increasing Aboriginal parent and community involvement in education via demonstration projects, school activities and the development of promotional materials;
• increasing the number of Aboriginal teachers through the enhancement of community-based bachelor of education programs in Winnipeg and northern Manitoba, and mentoring programs to encourage Aboriginal high school students to explore teaching career possibilities;
• developing Aboriginal perspectives in career education programming and building various partnerships to increase post-secondary education participation for Aboriginal students;
• continuing implementation of the Hydro Northern Training Strategy to increase Aboriginal apprenticeships; and
• establishing baseline information on Aboriginal teachers, student teachers and students to facilitate research and monitor outcomes.

"By supporting initiatives such as ACCESS programs for Aboriginal students, we have already seen increased participation in post-secondary education and in the marketplace," McGifford said. "We will be building on this success and ensuring that Aboriginal people have the opportunity to be full participants in the educated and skilled workforce of the future."

For more information on the Manitoba Aboriginal Education Action Plan, visit the province's website at http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/abedu, phone 945-7886 in Winnipeg or call (toll free) 1-800-282-8069, ext. 7886.

- 30 -

LIST OF FUNDED SCHOOL DIVISIONS/DISTRICTS.

The Following School Divisions or Districts Received Funding

Under the New "Building Student Success with Aboriginal Parents" Initiative