In February, the Ontario government announced $1.3 billion in funding to mainstream post-secondary universities and colleges. However, the announcement did not explicitly include Indigenous Institutions, leaving them without critically needed funds.
Beverley Roy, president of Kenjgewin Teg, an Ontario-based Indigenous Educational Institute, says the announcement is disappointing, especially because they are constantly advocating for equitable and sustainable funding from the Ontario government, which is critically important to allow Kenjgewin Teg to keep doing the work it does and more.
“A lot of us have limited capacity in terms of even physical space to take on more students, so the funding allows us to grow and to serve more students,” Roy says, adding that students are impacted the most by decisions like this.
According to the Indigenous Institute Consortium (IIC), Indigenous Institutes maintain a 75-85% successful graduation rate, up to 10% higher than Ontario colleges, and over 90% of graduates transition to good-quality employment.
“Part of what we do and what's so important is we provide access to post-secondary learning for students who probably otherwise wouldn't attend college or university in an urban center or on their campus,” Roy explains.
One of the biggest advantages of institutes like Kenjgewin Teg is that it provides community-based learning without requiring students to uproot their families and pay the cost of relocating, she adds.
“The stark funding disparity between Indigenous Institutes and publicly funded institutions highlights systemic disparities, in contradiction to international declarations such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP),” the ICC says.
“It's really the learners who don't benefit and who lose out from these types of unfortunate announcements,” Roy says.
Find out more about Kenjgewin Teg online here.