Living Off Reserve Problem

1373 Words3 Pages

The purpose of this report is to explore the issues, policies, controversies and challenges to which Canada’s First Nations population faces, in relations to where they live. After thoroughly analyzing three different articles that discussed life on reserve versus off reserving living, it was unquestionably evident that living circumstances and overall quality of life is better off reserve than on reserve for the First Nation’s population. The First Nation’s population living on reserve struggle to be provided with adequate health care, funding for education and experience a much lower income, resulting in overall higher poverty rates. These problems appear to have a direct negative correlation on the First Nation’s individuals, …show more content…

With the rise of poverty amongst on reserve families and individuals, Statistics Canada has confirmed that “proportionately fewer Aboriginal Canadians finish high school and of those that do, a smaller proportion will obtain post-secondary education” (Milke). As I have discussed in the prior paragraphs, large sums of money are already being required for basic necessities such as health care. In correlation to the worsening poverty rates is the “continued underfunding of education” (Balca), within on reserve communities and funding committees. It has been a difficult journey for First Nations people to establish a positive education system, with such a traumatizing history of residential schools amongst their households. Aboriginals who are living off reserves have achieved a large increase in their academic success and educational advancements. However, on reserve Aboriginals are still suffering from lack of funding from the federal government, which thus leads to less academic success and what appears to be a decrease in educational advancement. Furthermore, statistics from 2011 show that more than 70 per cent of individuals off reserve had received a high school diploma compared to the 45 percent of the Aboriginal adolescents that received one who live on a reserve. Inuit communities specifically have experienced an increase in high school dropouts between the years of 1998 and 2011 as the dropout rate went from 48 percent to 59 percent over that time period. Overall, the lack of support to fund on reserve schools and education, has consequently resulted in on reserve students not receiving a proper education. It is evident that the education system off the reserves are much more beneficial to a student's quality of life and therefore, supports the arguments that off reserve living is better than on reserve

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