Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
18 Tuesday July 7 2015 EDUCATION POSTSECONDARY 926 MACKENZIE HIGHWAY HAY RIVER NT 867-874-2771 Toll Free 1-866-327-0717 www.monsterrec.com PLUS A great selection of outboard motors are on sale now OUFITTER SERIES 16 AND 18 FEET 926 MACKENZIE HIGHWAY HAY RIVER NT 867-874-2771 Toll Free 1-866-327-0717 www.monsterrec.com MONSTER NOW CARRIES FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION. Fishing Rods Tackle and a large selection of Hunting Knives also available DONT BE SASSEDBY A MOOSE By MEAGAN WOHLBERG Education got us into this mess and edu- cation will get us out of it stated Chief Wil- ton Littlechild a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission TRC during its closing ceremonies last month. Thats the spirit behind a new partnership intent on ensuring roughly 200000 Aborigi- nal children in Canada no longer go without the millions of dollars in free post-secondary education funding that most are currently missing out on. A new joint effort led by the J.W. McCon- nell Family Foundation and the National As- sociation of Friendship Centres is aiming to ensure no eligible youth goes without receiv- ing their Canada Learning Bond a 2000 no-strings-attached grant for children born after Dec. 31 2003 whose families receive the National Child Benet Supplement. When it comes to reaching Aboriginal peo- ple Friendship Centres are a great service de- livery mechanism said Jeffrey Cyr executive director of the National Association of Friend- ship Centres. We believe we can lend a great deal of value to this project by leveraging our national network to launch pilot projects in key Friendship Centres across Canada. The bond offered by the government of Canada gives low-income families a head start through the creation of a Registered Ed- ucation Savings Plan RESP. It begins with a 500 initial contribution followed by an ad- ditional 100 per year until the child turns 15 to a maximum of 2000 per child. The fund can be supplemented by other grants. According to the NWT Literacy Council only about nine per cent of eligible chil- dren in the NWT are receiving the money while 3000 kids are not. Thats three times below the already low national sta- tistics which indicate just 30 per cent of eligible families are accessing the program across Canada. Katie Randall youth and adult services coordinator for the NWT Literacy Council said the primary issue is awareness. A lot of children may be eligible for the Canada Learning Bond but their parents may not know about the program she said. Thats a barrier weve been trying to help people overcome by just making sure that the information is out there so that fami- lies know. But even when families are aware Randall said there are other logistical barriers that make getting the money tough for families in the North. RESPs must be set up in per- son at a nancial institution which can be difcult in the 27 NWT communities that dont have banks. With so many of our communities not having local bank branches thats a big barrier so people can really only set this up when theyre in Yellowknife or in one of the regional centres Randall said. AdditionallyinordertosetupanRESPboth thechildandparentneedtohaveaSocialInsur- anceNumberwhichrequiresabirthcerticate. In communities where there may not be a Service Canada ofce there might be a delay or an issue in getting the Social Insurance Numbers Randall said. The goal of the fund is to ensure educational outcomes for children are improved across Canada through early planning and savings for post-secondary. Recent studies show that only 45 per cent of high school students from low income families with no savings enroll in postsecondary and only seven per cent of those graduate. By contrast 72 per cent of students with even some savings enroll and 33 per cent graduate. Other partners in the initiative include non- prot organizations like SmartSAVER and the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative as well as banks like BMO Meridian RBC Royal Bank Scotiabank TD and Vancity. Friendship Centres to ensure Aboriginal youth receive postsecondary education funding PhotocourtesyofAuroraCollege A new partnership between various banks NGOs and friendship centres aims to ensure eligible Aboriginal youth across Canada access their free postsecondary funding.