Backgrounder - Triparite Agreement on First Nation Education

The governments of Canada and Quebec, and the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador on behalf of the First Nations Education Council of Quebec have signed a tripartite agreement designed to support and improve educational outcomes among First Nation students in communities represented by the First Nations Education Council of Quebec (FNEC).

The tripartite agreement commits the partners to collaborate on a joint action plan to increase the academic success of students in FNEC communities. The focus of the agreement is on the sharing of experience, the exchange of information, and collaboration in supporting First Nation students who transition from one education system to another.

The joint action plan includes the following five objectives:

• Develop a process through which the First Nation education system and the Quebec education system can work together more efficiently;
  
  
• Promote system effectiveness through increased human resource capacity to support academic achievement of First Nation students who transition;
  
  
• Implement measures that will take into account the linguistic diversity of First Nation students for whom neither French nor English is their first language;
  
  
• Encourage collaboration between the First Nation and provincial systems of education in respect of programs and curricula; and
• Promote the participation of First Nations in the Quebec educational school system in various capacities.

This agreement will benefit close to 3,200 students of 10 communities represented by the First Nations Education Council. The agreement contains a clause allowing FNEC communities to voluntarily opt out of or sign on to the agreement, so that other communities may decide to join the agreement later.