Changes in First Nations history in public schools is “long overdue”: BC Chief

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Students could start learning about residential schools this year thanks to upcoming changes in BC’s public education. Aboriginal perspectives will be offered at all grade levels from kindergarten to grade 9 and teachers have the option of using the new program this year instead of waiting until 2016.

One Executive member of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs says it’s about time.
“Well, it’s long overdue for sure being in the school curriculum for recognizing indigenous people and the plight here in Canada for our people,” says Chief Judy Wilson with the Neskonlith First Nations and the UBCIC.

She’s glad students will hear what really happened during the settlement of lands, creation of reserves, residential schools, and the dependency created.
“So, now we can learn the impacts to our people and also how our people are rebuilding their nations and rebuilding and strengthening their families in order to heal our people. I’m looking forward to our children learning about indigenous people because when I went to school, we didn’t learn about our people, it was the Plains Indians or the Inuit or everybody else,” she explains.

She does feel more can be done. “[Teachers can] also lend that [curriculum to] adult schools, I think it’s just the start of the real information of indigenous people getting out to the schools now.”

She’s also happy there were members of the Aboriginal community contributed to the curriculum.

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