WINNIPEG, MB – University of Winnipeg President and Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Lloyd Axworthy is the keynote speaker at a summit devoted to Aboriginal education tomorrow, Friday, May 24, 2013 at the University of Regina. The following week, on Tuesday, May 28, Axworthy is being honoured by the University of Regina with its Distinguished Canadian Award.
Axworthy is speaking at the Lloyd Barber Summit on Aboriginal Post-Secondary Education: “Identifying Best Practices”, followed by Shawn Atleo, Assembly of First Nations National Chief.
According to summit organizers, it is estimated that it will take 65,000 graduates to close the gap in Aboriginal post-secondary educational attainment. Axworthy will outline initiatives underway at UWinnipeg aimed at closing the graduation gap which focus on supporting Indigenous youth early and throughout their academic experience.
Community Learning
In recognition of the importance of early intervention, UWinnipeg created an Innovative Learning Centre which works with 35 inner-city and North End schools to offer scientific, environmental and cultural learning opportunities to more than 100 primarily Indigenous youth each year, through Eco-Kids on Campus.
Over the past six years, more than 5,000 children have participated in UWinnipeg’s popular Eco-U Summer Camp – the largest free day camp for inner-city and Indigenous children and youth in Winnipeg. Campers engage in a full slate of activities from environmental science experiments to cultural activities.
UWinnipeg’s Collegiate Model School on campus provides individualized learning to young people who are facing challenges in the public school system. So far, 29 students have graduated from this program and two thirds of those grads are now pursuing post-secondary education, many of them at The University of Winnipeg.
To deal with the fundamental issue of financial need, UWinnipeg created a unique Opportunity Fund supported by private donors and foundations. There are three streams: The Opportunity Fund tuition credit allows selected students in grades 4 to 12 to “earn as they learn”. These credits go towards tuition and text books at UWinnipeg when they graduate. More than 150 children are in this program. The second stream is the Opportunity Fund fast-track bursaries, which have supported 1,158 Indigenous, new Canadian, and other students without the means to attend University. So far 172 of these recipients have graduated.
This year UWinnipeg introduced a tuition waiver program for youth raised in the child welfare system. Young people leaving foster care rarely graduate from high school, and only a small minority go on to university. UWinnipeg is now providing tuition for up to 20 students a year, in partnership with the Province of Manitoba Authorities, which covers living and other associated costs.
Indigenous Inclusion
In an effort to attract strong Aboriginal mentors, The University of Winnipeg recently appointed Wab Kinew, well-known broadcaster, record producer and hip hop artist as the University’s first Director of Indigenous Inclusion. Kinew is developing a Centre for Indigenous Inclusion targeting four main audiences that are traditionally outside the mandate of a university: First, youth programs around entrepreneurship and business planning. Second, First Nations professionals, specifically Band Economic Development Officers. Third, First Nations’ government, with a specific focus on developing greater skills around the negotiation and implementation of agreements around resource extraction. Fourth, there is great demand on the part of industry, be it resource extraction, government departments, or in the financial sector, to train their employees further around issues of Aboriginal traditions, history and cultures. Much of this can be done through online learning and engagement.
“Our Community Learning initiatives at The University of Winnipeg offer a number of specific, holistic programs designed to promote a love of learning in young students and provide the financial tools to make a university education possible,” said Axworthy. “UWinnipeg has one of the largest Indigenous student populations in the country at 12 percent and we know when properly supported, these students can and do thrive.”
On May 28, Axworthy will receive the 29th annual Distinguished Canadian Award from URegina’s Lifelong Learning Centre and Centre for Continuing Education. He is being honoured for his advancement in human security concepts, in particular, the Ottawa Treaty – a landmark global treaty banning anti-personnel landmines — as well as his dedication to closing the graduation gap for Indigenous students. Proceeds from the dinner will support the Aboriginal Grandmother’s Caring for Grandchildren Support Network.
Find out more about Indigenous scholarship and supports at UWinnipeg.
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MEDIA CONTACT
Diane Poulin, Communications Officer, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.988.7135, E: d.poulin@uwinnipeg.ca
