Students challenged to take up Shannen’s Dream

Elementary students and teachers across Canada are being challenged to take up the late Shannen Koostachin’s campaign for more equitable funding and better conditions for First Nation schools.
“Shannen’s advocacy helped us see very clearly the impact of underfunding by the federal government on schools in First Nations communities,” said Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO). “We’re challenging teachers and students in elementary schools to support the Shannen’s Dream campaign to ensure that every young Canadian – no matter where they live – realizes the same fundamental right to decent schools and education in order to reach their full potential.”
Earlier this fall, Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus introduced Motion 571 – Shannen's Dream – in the House of Commons. The motion calls for the right of First Nations children to high-quality, culturally relevant education, transparency in school construction, maintenance and replacement, and funding that will put reserve schools on par with non-reserve provincial schools.
Angus is set to formally announce the Shannen’s Dream campaign Nov. 17 in Ottawa.
Koostachin, who passed away in May in a car accident, was a young First Nation activist from Attawapiskat who was nominated for an International Children’s Peace Prize.
She opened the eyes of many Canadians to the inequality faced by First Nation students during her fight with the federal government to build an elementary school for her community. Around 400 students in Attawapiskat were forced to attend school in portables after the school was closed because of a diesel fuel leak over 10 years ago.
Her dream was that all First Nation children should be able to get an education in clean “comfy” schools just as non-Native children do.
“Because of its fiduciary responsibilities under the Indian Act, the Department of Indian Affairs is functioning as a school board. How then can the department justify that funding for Aboriginal students is $2,000 less than that for students in the provincially funded public and Catholic systems,” Hammond said. “In the case of Attawapiskat, it is unacceptable that the community has waited over 10 years for the department to build a new school there, despite protests from First Nations and many others including ETFO.”