Advocating for
Self-Determined First Nation Education
Advocacy
We are First Nation education advocates. Through letter-writing, political advocacy, media interviews, Op-Eds and partnerships with academic institutes and human-rights groups, we challenge outdated federal policy and demand a shift to self-determined education systems.
UNDRIP
The FNWSC holds Canada to account on its 2021 commitment to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as it relates to education. We also engage in international advocacy through the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, reinforcing the call for Indigenous jurisdiction and accountability in education policy. UNDRIP affirms our right to create and control education systems rooted in (our) own Indigenous languages and cultural ways. Read more.
Government Engagement
At a national level, the FNWSC is a leading voice on First Nation Education policy. We have participated as a witness in standing committee discussions on the Indigenous Languages Act and graduation outcomes to ensure First Nations education priorities are heard directly by decision-makers. We also brief politicians and policy makers on how Canada’s current First Nation education policy oppresses Indigenous communities and inhibits student achievement.
Op-Eds & media relations
The FNWSC speaks to journalists and also engages in opinion writing about First Nation education issues such as inadequate funding.
In this OpEd in the Toronto Star, FNWSC holds the Government of Canada to account on UNDRIP, which states Indigenous Peoples have the right to control their education systems and provide education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods. Join our call. Write letters to your local MP demanding accountability for First Nation learners!
FNWSC Goverance Director Leslee White-Eye speaks to the Standing Committee of Indigenous and Northern Affairs.