Opening Statement to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - Elementary and Secondary Education
(Chapter 4 - April 2000 Report of the Auditor General)

Introduction

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the Committee. On behalf of Auditor General Denis Desautels, who has previous out-of-town commitments, I wish to thank you for the opportunity to discuss Chapter 4 of our April 2000 Report to the House.

This chapter deals with our audit of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada that looked at elementary and secondary education for Indian students living on reserves. The audit was significantly different from most of our audits in that it dealt with the well-being of children — the future of any country.

It is therefore especially gratifying to appear before you to deliberate fundamental issues and also opportunities available to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada for improvements in education.

Background and Context

The Department’s mandate for elementary and secondary education stems from its authority and obligations under various statutes, treaties, agreements and government policy. The Department’s objective for education is to assist First Nations in achieving their needs and aspirations. To do this, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada allocates some $1 billion annually to First Nations for elementary and secondary education. This does not include additional amounts for on-reserve school construction and maintenance.

Departmental funding is for the benefit of Indian students who live on reserves and who attend on-reserve or provincial schools. Education for Indian students who live off-reserve and attend provincial schools is funded by the provinces. Other arrangements involving Indian and Northern Affairs Canada are in place for post-secondary education, which was not included in this audit.

It is important to note that the Department has delegated its authority to First Nations and the provinces for the design and delivery of education. Departmental data show that almost 60 percent of the 117,000 Indian students living on reserves are enrolled in over 450 Indian-managed elementary and secondary schools. About 39 percent are enrolled in provincial schools, and a small number attend eight schools operated by the Department.

Regardless of the approach used, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada retains responsibility for the cost and appropriateness of education. Against this backdrop, we asked the following questions in our audit:

• Does the Department have reasonable assurance that it is meeting its objective for education?
• Is the Department exploiting existing opportunities for operational improvements? and
• Has the Department demonstrated accountability for results?

Audit Findings

We found, Madam Chair, that the Department is undertaking several initiatives to help achieve its objective for education. However, the audit disclosed two broad areas that are cause for concern.

First, there are fundamental issues that have remained unresolved for many years, related to the Department’s role in education, the need to reduce the educational achievement gap, and the need to develop and use appropriate performance indicators.

The Department has not articulated its role in education, despite the fact that it has been devolving education to First Nations for at least 30 years. We believe that a complete articulation of the Department’s role, consistent with the nature and extent of program devolution, is essential to success and accountability. Clarification of the role is needed so that the Department can reasonably determine whether its existing capacity and resources are sufficient to achieve its objective.

We have reported in other audits that successful program devolution must be accompanied by four key elements. First, each First Nation needs to have adequate capacity to deliver such programs successfully. Capacity includes such things as strong governance and financial and operational expertise.

Second, the parties must be willing to support devolution. Third, the Department needs to identify and manage the risks associated with devolution. And finally, satisfactory accountability is required. In particular, this requires a clear understanding of:

• the expectations of each party (First Nations, provincial authorities and the Department);
• the roles and responsibilities of each party; and
• the reporting of results.

The lag in academic achievement of First Nations students behind other Canadians is a serious gap. The dropout rate of Indian students before grade nine is six times higher than that of the Canadian population. The proportion of the on-reserve population with a high school education is significantly lower than in the general population. At the current rate of progress, it will take over 20 years for Indian students to reach parity with other Canadians at the secondary school level. Moreover, it is questionable whether the education received by Indian students meets their cultural needs. In our view, this picture reflects a Canadian tragedy.

The Department is not oblivious to the situation; it is aware of numerous studies reported over many years on the state of Indian education. Yet it has failed to take prompt and effective remedial action.

With respect to performance indicators, we found that Indian and Northern Affairs Canada collects some basic data on education such as nominal roll information and other operational statistics. However, it has not developed indicators of performance and of results to demonstrate accountability and to provide assurance that it is achieving its objective.

The second broad area of concern is the need for operational improvements, including how the Department administers education funding. The audit identified a need:

• to gather cost information for comparative purposes and for determining potential problems associated with levels of funding;
• to better manage education funding arrangements by ensuring their existence and use;
• to consult more on curriculum and instruments of delivery to benefit First Nations students who have a variety of academic, cultural and special needs; and
• to obtain and use school evaluations to assess overall school performance as well as specific issues that may apply to a particular school.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Madam Chair, the Department must significantly increase its efforts to help improve the record of educational achievement by First Nations students while addressing their cultural needs.

We recognize that resolving the issues will be a challenge. However, remedial action is urgently needed and the urgency will be intensified by the growing demand on education services because of demographic trends in First Nations communities.

In the absence of satisfactory progress, there will be an increased waste of human capital, lost opportunities, a high financial cost in social programs and a degradation of the relationship between the government and First Nations peoples.

We hope that with the Committee’s agreement and encouragement, the Department will expeditiously develop and implement an appropriate action plan for improvement, for the benefit of Indian students and all Canadians.

We would be pleased to respond to questions or comments.