Saskatchewan task force releases report on how to improve First Nations and Métis education & employment outcomes

Last week the Joint Task Force on Improving Education and Employment Outcomes for First Nations and Métis People released their final report, Voice, Vision and Leadership: A Place for All. The joint project between the provincial government and the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations makes 25 recommendations, among them that the province proclaim First Nations and Métis languages as the original languages of Saskatchewan. It also recommends the vast expansion of early childhood intervention programs for Aboriginal children both on and off-reserve; provincial funding of what were traditionally federal responsibilities, such as on-reserve school driver training or subsidies for reserve students wanting to attend provincial schools; eliminating the one-year mandatory wait time for high school dropouts to access adult education programs; better alignment between Saskatchewan employers and PSE institutions, particularly for First Nations and Métis students and streamlining the process which matches aboriginal PSE graduates with employers. In preparing the report, the task force travelled to 16 communities and held 83 individual and public consultations with over 1,000 people. Saskatchewan News | Leader-Post | Saskatoon StarPhoenix | CBC | Newstalk 650 | Joint Task Force