With a new school year underway, School District 57 will once again be hearing the Carrier Sekani First Nation’s concerns about the education of their children.
They, with support from various local First Nations groups, have been lobbying local school board trustees to reinstate the aboriginal education board that was dissolved two years ago. Tribal Chief Terry Teegee says the board provided crucial input into local programs that has been missing ever since.
“We will continue to have more meetings with, hopefully, the trustees in the district and also the government of British Columbia to have more input and accountability for our children in many school districts.”
Teegee says his concerns have now spread beyond the local school district.
“School District 57 is not the only district there are aboriginal education issues. It seem to me that there are other districts out there that are having the same issues so perhaps this is a bigger issue, a systemic issue, in this province.”
The Carrier Sekani are consulting with other First Nations and school districts to see how aboriginal education is being handled there.
“The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council are bringing a campaign forward to hear other similar stories with other school districts in this province. As soon as we come to the end of this outreach, we’ll have a public campaign to make sure these school districts are accountable.”
Teegee says they’re not giving up on the local level either – he plans to attend this month’s school board meeting and will continue to engage with School District 57’s board.
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