First let me acknowledge we're in the traditional territory of the Algonquin Nation, and it's my obligation to greet them and thank them. Sekoh. Skano. Good morning all of you. Bonjour.
My name's Roberta Jamieson, president and CEO of Indspire, formerly called the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.
You're studying something that is very critical to Canada, and a field in which Indspire has been involved for several decades. I think we have important insights, and I'm pleased to offer them.
We're a national charity supporting the educational achievement of first nations, Inuit, and Métis youth in Canada. Since 1985 we have pursued our vision of enriching Canada by advancing indigenous achievement primarily through educational programs. Just to give you an example of scale, we're the largest funder of indigenous post-secondary education in the country outside of the Government of Canada, so that means about $54 million thus far in 16,000 bursaries and scholarships, much of that funded by government and private sector, lots of corporate partners, and individual donors.
Over the last six years alone we have supported 3,000 students to pursue health careers. That's grown from 247 in 2007 to over 600 last year, a tremendous growth. There were 560 students in business, 700 in education, we have to have a few lawyers as I am one, 550 in legal studies, 620 in sciences, and I could go on. There were 400 in technical careers, and we need more there. I'm very excited that in that list there are 300 pursuing their Ph.D.s. That tells me there's both a need for assistance and also that academic excellence is clearly on the rise. So we're very pleased with the support we've provided to date.
Last spring I was delighted that the 2013 budget contained a commitment of $10 million in new dollars for Indspire on the condition we go out and match it, and we're working hard at that. The first year goal was $5 million, and we're over $3 million so we're almost there. Cheer us on and write a cheque and we'll get there really fast.
We've had great success, but we have a lot of challenges as well. Year after year the gap's growing, right? The gap is absolutely growing between the need and what's available for indigenous students. Last year we awarded $5.2 million to 2,000 students. That was only 18% of what they needed. In short, there is a much greater need than what we can offer.
We also deliver a number of other programs designed to prepare indigenous students for success. We know financial support is essential, but there are other supports as well. We are working hard through a very new initiative called the Indspire Institute to improve K-to-12 completion rates because if we can't get out of high school, we're simply not going to get into the workforce or on to post-secondary. The Institute is simply an online community where students, educators, parents, and leaders, and our partners can meet virtually and share their knowledge and experience. We have about 1,500 members thus far, and it was just launched last spring.
We also host highly popular Soaring career conferences, motivational sessions for students in high school, industry in the classroom curriculum modules, showing our students what's possible if they stay in school in mining, journalism, oil and gas, and so on, and realizing projects working with communities directly.
I was going to start to quote to you a number of statistics as to why it's important we do what we do, but I think you know the statistics, and they have been quoted to you this morning as well. The fact is, the numbers don't paint a healthy picture for our youth, our communities, or the country.
I've been around a long time—as your chair will know—as a chief, as a mediator, and in many capacities. I could have quoted these statistics to you years ago. They are not changing very rapidly. This is a national embarrassment. I think we have to face up to it and take some action.
Now let me talk to you specifically about the recommendations. Timely action is critical. Unless we get at the fundamental reasons for the underachievement from kindergarten and up, there will not be much change in the participation of indigenous people in the workforce. It's that simple to me. We have to make sure there are committed funds to support change. We have to make sure we're empowering indigenous people to address the critical issues we face. We have to ensure there are real and meaningful ways to connect those goals. I have a number of recommendations.
First, supports to assist indigenous people have to be distinct from programs and services that seek to assist other groups. We simply are not the one-size-fits-all candidates, frankly. We are different. Our people are different. We're in a different place in the country. Many of our students are older. I can tell you from our own experience that mostly women are accessing our bursaries. A 27-year-old indigenous woman is our usual candidate. They're often the first in their family to pursue education, and are often single moms with great need and great determination. We need focused investment on developing supports that recognize the unique needs of indigenous learners: mentoring, internships, on-the-job training.
Second, programs that are solely focused on skills training do little when one considers that many indigenous people are not prepared to enter these programs. We need support for youth and adults in basic literacy and numeracy. In our oil and gas trades and technology bursary and scholarship program, which we created completely with private sector support of five companies based in Alberta, we found that 70% of the students we supported in a three-year period were enrolled in pre-trades training. They were not ready for the trades; that's why.
We can't simply say “There's resource development here, and there are jobs, so you all come”, because our people simply are not prepared to even get into trades training or apprenticeships. So support for that is critical.
Third, to repeat what I said in 2010 to the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, Parliament should pass legislation stating that every first nations child on reserve should have access to an equitable education that is funded at the same level as their non-indigenous neighbours. That currently is simply not the case. It's a sensitive topic. I get it. I don't want to engage in political debate. But equitable funding on reserve must be a priority. The moneys must be found now. Having been around a long time, I would urge that we not fall prey to arguing about whether it's a provincial responsibility or a federal responsibility. I simply think we need a pool. Let's all contribute. Let's invest, and then decide later the question of who is ultimately responsible, because we'll not solve that in my lifetime.
I also know there's a big debate going on with regard to the first nations education act. I'm not entering that debate either. What I propose is something different: pass an act that calls for equitable funding—equality—and I believe you will find widespread support throughout the country.
Fourth, at Indspire we recognize that success between kindergarten and grade 12 is key to success later in a student's life. We take the success of indigenous students very seriously. That's why we created the indigenous Indspire Institute, with peer support and coaching, webinars, blogs, connecting educators, and sharing successful practices.
I won't go on but will simply encourage you to have a look at those things. There are, frankly, some successes. They're shining lights. We need to expose them, celebrate them, and support the growth of more.
Fifth, when developing workforce access programs for Canada's indigenous peoples, partnership between the federal government, industry, and organizations such as Indspire must be supported. We have a successful track record, with nearly 40% of our funding coming from the private sector. We've earned that credibility, we've worked hard for it, and we value it.
Industry, quite frankly, is willing to be a part of the solution. We think that encouraging indigenous participation in the workforce is a wonderful cause for all professional organizations, associations, and the corporate sector to demonstrate social responsibility and to participate in building a better Canada in a very real and practical way. That's meaningful philanthropy. But it needs federal leadership as well.
For the modules that we take into classrooms showing our people in mining sectors, we've had corporate partners such as Vale step up to fund them. We have Shell, we have Astral Media, we have the banks, and there are many more willing to work in partnership with our people.
