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[Transcript] THE UBYSSEY
Inside
BoWe:
Portrait of the artist
p.10-11
Native grads'
aid threatened
Students rally for changes
in government policy
By Ilona Biro
Native graduate stu-
dents may be denied stu-
dent assistance in the fu-
ture because they chose the
wrong academic subject, if a
new federal policy comes
into effect.
Native students across
Canada have joined forces
to oppose the new Native
Post-Secondary Student
Assistance Program
(PSSAP), which requires
native students to "engage
in studies that directly con-
tribute to achieving self-
government and economic
self-reliance," if they want
continued federal funding.
On Tuesday a rally was held
at Robson Square, and Wednesday
night B.C. Indian student leaders
met with Ronald Penner, director
of education for the B.C. region, to
discuss the new policy.
In that meeting, several con-
cerns were brought up by Native
students who are disappointed
with the rushed consultation proc-
ess and the time frame that has
been set for Native input into the
policy paper. The consultation
process began in mid-August and
is due to end in a few weeks.
The policy goes to the Treas-
ury Board for approval at the end
of November and will come into
effect as of April 1, 1989.
The government states in the
introduction to the policy changes
paper that its main objectives are
to improve academic success rates
and attendance of native students
in post-secondary programs and to
contribute more directly to the
goals of Indian self-government
and economic self-reliance.
But under the new guidelines,
Native grad students will only be
supported for 48 student months,
as opposed to 96 months under the
old program. And special incen-
tives grants, which have a maxi-
mum of $750 for Masters students,
and $1500 for doctoral students,
will be more difficult to get, as a
result of new criteria which re-
quire Native graduate students to
enrol in selected displines.
Though the Department of
Indian Affairs has pledged to take
all native input into account in
drafting the final policy, students
are skeptical. Ron Peigan, spokes-
person for the National Native
Law Students, says the policy
suggests educated Indians pose a
threat to the government.
"Why is the government tak-
ing aim at our right to education?
In plain language, with education
comes knowledge, and knowledge
brings power. The Indians have
been attacking the government for
20 years, and they don't like it."
Penner said at Wednesday's
meeting that "they (the federal
government) admit that they have
no business defining self-govern-
ment. But I'm not sure how they're
going to implement this if no one
defines self-government." The
report makes no mention of how
'self-government' is to be defined.
Native student leader Bev
Scow says arbitrary definitions
could be imposed by bureaucrats
institutionalizing the definition of
self-government so that Indian
PhD candidates in Philosophy or
Canadian Literature could con-
ceivably be denied assistance,
because their studies are consid-
ered "non-essential" for the goal of
native self-government.
Verna Kirkness, Director of
the UBC First Nations House of
Learning, said the policy was a
paradox. "The government wants
self-government, yet they don't
promote the necessary tools."
Bev Scow says the proposed
policy misses the mark. "The First
Nations peoples may not know for
some time what selt-government
will be and what types of educa-
tion will be most appropriate."
"Why is the government
taking aim at our right to
education? In plain lan-
guage, with education
comes knowledge, and
knowledge brings power.
The Indians have been at-
tacking the government for
20 years, and they don't like
it."
Another problem with the
policy is that while the govern-
ment wants to promote local con-
trol of the program, the policies of
Indian band councils "must be
consistent" with that of Indian
Affairs. The government's invita-
tion to bands to develop their own
education policies appears to be a
contradiction in terms.
The policy has put a fixed
budget on the PSSAP, forcing
Indian leaders to make a choice:
should the government fund more
students with less money, or less
students with more money?
Penner says that the govern-
ment had no choice in the matter,
citing growth rates of 28 percent
per year in Native post-secondary
enrolment in the past three years.
The new policy will put a limit
on growth at ten percent. Last
year at least 400 B.C. Native stu-
dents were deferred due to a lack of
funds, and under the new policy
even more will be.
Penner says "that will always
be the case as long as you have
high demand and a fixed budget",
but he notes "the PSSAP is by far
the most successful program run
by the Department of Indian Af-
fairs."
see native students page 20
Native students rallied for better education funding on Tuesday
MANDEL NGAN PHOTO
continued from native students page 1
The funding cuts directly af-
fect living allowances which are
not geared to regional disparities,
nor are they tagged to the rate of
inflation. A single student living
away from home will receive $575
per student month (down from
$621 under the previous policy)),
whether they live in costly Toronto
or in Prince George. Extra costs
like daycare, special shelter allow-
ances and other contingencies
that previously allowed for more
flexibility in living alowance have
been eliminated.
A native student who is ac-
cepted to an elite foreign institu-
tion, (i.e.Harvard Law School),
will only receive as much support
as they would need to attend "the
most comparable program in the
nearest Canadian institution."
Penner admits that "comparable
is defined in a very narrow way,"
and Scow adds that the system
seems to penalize native students
who demonstrate high academic
standards.
Until the 1950's, Indians had
to surrender their native status in
order to accept a B.A. degree from
a Canadian university. To be an
educated Indian was a legal con-
tradition in terms. Though condi-
tions have improved greatly since
then, in light of the new PSSAP,
today's native students are ever
more committed to protecting the
educations of native students.
VOLUME 71, Number 4
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