Executive Summary
While education is the responsibility of the individual province or territory, the ways in which education for Indigenous students is organized varies across the country.
A large number of Indigenous students in Canada are educated for all or part of their education in provincial/territorial public schools. Many Indigenous students are educated in federally funded, band-operated schools using provincial curricula, but because these schools do not fall under the responsibility of provincial school boards associations they are outside of the scope of this survey. However, it is important to acknowledge that boards need to form a positive and value add relationship with all First Nations schools.
Since there are a variety of ways in which Indigenous peoples are organized in Canada, and given Indigenous populations as a percentage of the total populations vary across the country, it stands to reason that there will be variations in provincial structures for Indigenous education as well as in the emphasis being placed on implementing the Calls to Action. However, one reoccurring theme among the possible recommendations provided below is the importance of data sharing between all systems involved.
This document is a summary of what this survey found. Provincial school boards associations, ministries of education, as well as other organizations and key educational partners provided the following information in response to the survey questions. Read the link below for the full report:
Cross-Country Overview of Indigenous Education Structure, Initiatives and Promising Practices
Stephen Hansen, an independent consultant with years of experience in education, provides a clear and firm rebuttal to a recent article that groups all trustees in with a few “bad apples.” Never doubt for a moment that our Canadian education system, while far from perfect, is one of the most successful in the world and elected commissioners/trustees have been central to that success.
When it comes to education governance, the national trend in recent years has been towards a troubling centralization of decision-making power, despite research that suggests school boards provide an effective way to improve student learning and increase local participation in school management.
CSBA is happy to announce that the 2017 CSBA Annual Congress will be hosted this coming year by BCSTA in beautiful Whistler, BC, along with the National Gathering for Trustees on Aboriginal Education. Details about registration and accommodations and programme are available at the 
Vice President.
