Good morning, and thank you very much for this opportunity.
I'll speak to the briefing note circulated last week. I'll talk to the first three points of our issues on page two.
The first point is improving the science, math, and language skills. Many times the students come to us in the nursing program where they're under-prepared in those areas. At the university level, we have transition programs that help those students be successful in the math, sciences, and English classes. The transition programs are structured with smaller classrooms with extra tutorials. English can be taken over the summer in a more relaxed environment, so that students get the reading and writing skills they need before university starts. Also, the students begin to adapt to university life and expectations. We need to maintain the funding for transition programs and the like.
Funding uncertainty and other constraints are the second point. One of our students is a licensed practical nurse. He wants to get his degree in nursing to become a registered nurse, as he knows there are more opportunities as an RN. He has come to school unable to get a student loan because he and his wife work. He went on maternity leave and took out a line of credit. He works as an LPN and takes full-time nursing classes. You can imagine that he wasn't able to dedicate as much time to those nursing classes as he wanted to.
He recently found out that the funding he was going for under the Métis institution in Saskatchewan wasn't able to fund him in his degree of nursing. He's dropped out, and we don't know if he's going to be coming back to obtain his degree in nursing. This is unfortunate, because he is a much-needed positive role model for our young men.
Another part of the constraints around funding is the definition of what a full-time student is, and the discrepancy between the two individuals I am going to talk about. The university defines a full-time student as someone who has three classes, but post-secondary policies on reserves define it as four classes, so there is a discrepancy. In order to get a full-time living allowance as well as tuition and books, they have to take four classes. There's no question that in nursing the classes are very intensive.
The third point is the systemic support in educational institutions. Equity seats are very important, and where they are implemented, you see a difference. We went from three equity seats in Saskatchewan to 104 in Regina, Saskatoon, and Prince Albert. Currently we have over 200 aboriginal students enrolled in a nursing education program in Saskatchewan, in the undergraduate and graduate programs. As of February 2009, the SRNA, our licensing body, recorded 442 self-identified aboriginal RNs. There are more, but we have a minimum of 442. That number will change in 2010.
It is very important to incorporate aboriginal ways into the nursing curricula. We are serving our people more and more. We are having a greater population base. It is very important to include indigenous knowledge into the curricula, so that we can better serve our communities. We need more aboriginal scholars in the mainstream institutions. The mainstream institutions will be the ones carrying the bulk of educating our people. We need scholarships dedicated to aboriginal students. We need physical symbols that are figured prominently across campus, not just put in someone's office. We need space dedicated for aboriginal people to go to. This builds a sense of community for individuals from remote communities. It also allows them time to be themselves, to take a break from the mainstream.
In those spaces, you will find student advisers who are aboriginal. They can help the students navigate their way through university life and find those resources that will help them become successful. Student ambassadors are used to do community outreach. They are our role models who go to the communities, relate to the students, and share their experiences.
We have pre-health-science summer camps at the U of S. We bring in 20 first nations youth from across the province. They spend two weeks on campus and live the life of a university student. What this does is demystify campus life. It introduces them to staff and faculty and gives them mini-lectures and the like.
That was my five minutes. Thank you, Madam Chair.