b'MISCONCEPTIONSMYTHBUSTERSSetting the record straight about Indigenous education in CanadaW e hear them all the time: straight-up mythsfunding, and a funding cap that was put in place about Indigenous students and education inin 1996 made it even more challenging to support Canada. They pop up on our social media,Indigenous students. iiiWith Indigenous youth being surface in conversations, and sometimes get repeatedthe fastest-growing demographic in Canada iv , and with on a national scale. Even though theyre easy toinsufficient funding to address all of their financial debunk, theyre also amazingly persistent!needs, many Indigenous students cant get the funding Maybe youve heard a few of them yourself? If so, restthey need for their high school or post-secondary easy: we have the answers you need to set the recordstudies. straight. You can also check out our suggested reading list for even more fact-based resources you can use! Its easy for Indigenous students to get access to education in Canada.All Indigenous students in Canada get freeFALSE: Canadas residential school system, which oper-education. ated from the 1870s to 1996, was purposely designed FALSE: This is probably the most common myth thatto separate Indigenous children from their families to we hear! So many people seem to have a friend orget rid of the Indian problem and forcibly assimilate co-worker or fellow student who is Indigenous andIndigenous people. vAs a result, many reserves lack getting a free education. While its true that someschools at all appropriate levels of education, so Indigenous students get some funding forstudents who live on reserves, particularly in their post-secondary education, thisthe North, often lack access to the educa-only happens if they are registeredtional infrastructure that is necessary as a status Indian iwith thefor them to pursue their education. federal governmentand if their community has enoughMany students must often travel federally-allocated moneyto attend high school, taking to pay for all or part of theirthem away from their families post-secondary education.and communities at a young Once the pot of allocatedage. Virtual school is also money is used up, itsnot a viable option for many, gone, and those whosince the lack of hardware and still need funding are leftconnectivity in remote areas without it. ii means that many communities Lots of communities arehave sporadic or non-existent unable to assist their studentsInternet access vi a challenge because they only receiverecently highlighted during the partial or nonexistent federalCOVID-19 pandemic. vii 32indspiration2021'