Double aboriginal education funding: leaders

Aboriginal leaders called on the federal government Wednesday to double the money it makes available to First Nations and aboriginal students.

Roberta Jamieson, president of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, said in Ottawa that native students need help with "intangible" costs outside of tuition, like transportation, housing and daycare.

Jamieson, a Mohawk woman from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, knows the challenge well, as she was the first woman in Canada from a First Nation to graduate with a law degree.

"There's a common myth out there that all aboriginal students who want to go onto post-secondary institutions have, without question, their funding available for education," Jamieson said. "That simply isn't true."

Jamieson's foundation awards scholarships to help aboriginal students cover the costs of higher education, but she said she's worried many students aren't getting the support they need. She wants the government to double its current funding commitment of almost $300 million.

First Nations' leaders are echoing Jamieson's call, saying Canada's increasing number of native young people need more support to get through university and into the workforce.

Student Naomi Recollet, who is working toward her masters degree at Carleton University, took in Jamieson's speech.

"It is a struggle," said Recollet, an aboriginal student from the community of Wikwemikong, on Manitoulin Island, Ont. Academically, the latest studies mark Recollet's sixth year at university. She's the first in her family to pursue a post-secondary institution, and like most native students, she had to travel to study.

After tuition fees, Carleton University estimates it costs students like Recollet more than $10,000 a year to live and go to class in Ottawa.

"Family was always there to help me with the move, and always there for the support, which I think was important to have," Recollet said.

While family support may be similar, the demographics of aboriginal students differ from the typical Canadian university student.

"The average student who comes to us, just to give you a sense of profile, is a 27-year-old aboriginal woman, many of whom have children, who are going to school, pursuing their higher education," Jamieson said.

"Their needs are different from other students across the country."

Jamieson said more than 400,000 native and First Nation people will be looking for jobs in the next two decades.