THERE will be 2, 800 First Nations students missing in the halls of Canada's post-secondary schools this 2007-2008 school year. Almost 3,000 youth are now on an ever-increasing waiting list for their opportunity for a university education. They will join the over 10,000 other First Nations youth that have been denied their opportunity to attend university since 2001.

These First Nations youth ironically are the ones that Canada most needs right now. They have already beaten the incredible odds against them. Poverty, racism and inadequate elementary and secondary educations on their reserves. These are the young people that rose above their disadvantages, fought to complete high school, and are no longer part of the dismal statistics on First Nations education.

According to the 2001 Census, of aboriginal young adults aged 20 to 24, 43 per cent did not have a high school certificate, compared to 16 per cent of other Canadians.

The reasons for this terrible graduation rate are many. The state of secondary education on reserves is far below the standard seen in any non-First Nation community in Canada. The high schools on reserves are often infested with mould, students have been housed in portable classrooms and in some schools even the gym locker room has been converted to class space.

Despite the fact that enrolments increase significantly when new and better schools are available, they are not available. This gives students dismal options -- drop out in frustration, try to get by without a high school certificate or leave home, families, friends and reserve for the cities of Winnipeg, Thompson or Brandon at age 14 or 15.

First Nations parents are expected to accept this situation every year. For many parents and grandparents of these students, there is an echo here of the old residential schools that they were forced to attend at a much younger age. Once again First Nations families are being torn apart by a system that treats them badly.

Disappear

Without the support of their family and friends many of these 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds fall prey to the lure of the underside of the city. Some disappear into alcohol or drug oblivion, others simply disappear entirely.

Given all the obstacles, it isn't a surprise that so many First Nations youth drop out of school. The ones that do make it are the ones Canada desperately needs to fill the large gap in employment being left behind by the baby boomers. Yet these almost 13,000 students will not be attending university this fall and therefore they will not be applying for the many jobs coming available in the near future.

Why? Largely because of a lack of funding for First Nations education, in particular for post-secondary education. Currently there is a two-per-cent spending cap on the Post-Secondary Education Program. In an age when employers are desperately seeking young adults to fill jobs vacated by retiring baby boomers, the cap seems far from sensible.

In its February 2007 report No Higher Priority: Aboriginal Post-Secondary Education in Canada, the Standing Committee of the House of Commons on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development examined the barriers of First Nation participation in post-secondary education.

One of the most important recommendations was that the two-per-cent cap be eliminated immediately, and spending increases for programming be based on actual costs incurred for tuition, travel and living expenses, indexed to reflect rises in costs.

Other recommendations included the need for the PSE to make it a priority to provide adequate funding to every eligible First Nations and Inuit student and that a special fund be established for students previously denied funding.

A recent survey by the Canada Millennium Scholarships Foundation found that First Nations youth are twice as likely to drop out of university as non-First Nations youth. Why? Because in order to give as many students as possible a chance at university, bands have been attempting to stretch the funding dollars inordinately thin. Combined with a lack of available financial support from family, many students give up after a couple of years and go back to the same dead-end jobs that made them consider university in the first place.

Offering assistance to First Nations youth to complete their education is not just a hand-out, it's a hand-up. This is not entirely motivated by altruism.

"The vast majority of new jobs being created today will be filled by college or university graduates," said Joseph Berger, a policy and research officer at the Canada Millennium Scholarships Foundation. "In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 20 per cent of young adults are aboriginal, and that proportion increases every year. Unless a greater number of young First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in these two provinces are able to access and succeed in post-secondary education, their provincial economies will soon be at a significant disadvantage."

Such funds would begin to help the few First Nations youth that have been able to get this far and they would significantly help this province retain its youth. First Nations youth want to stay in Manitoba, complete their valuable education and contribute to the well-being of their people. Let's give them the opportunity.

Ron Evans is the grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs

It gives me great pleasure to be in attendance at this monumental event which recognizes and demonstrates the support given by federal NDP and Liberal Members of Parliament towards proposed legislation and policy that would adopt a "child first" principle as we refer to "Jordan's Principle"

"Jordan's Principle" derived from the unnecessary suffering of a child and his family that originates from my FirstNation community in Manitoba, Kinosao Sipi First Nation, formerly known as Norway House Cree Nation.

Jordan was a severely disabled child born with a complex genetic disorder and severe developmental delays that required very specialized medical care. The medical community at that time also prescribed the necessity for this child to live in a home that was specially equipped and trained to care for his needs. The medical professionals stipulated that Jordan's "attachment" needs and requirements were at risk due to his longevity living in an institutional setting.

A foster home was located by the child welfare agency that is responsible for the First Nation.

We were unable to move this child into the waiting foster home only due to the ongoing jurisdictional disputes among levels of government, mainly the federal government. Our Jordan unnecessarily remained in the hospital for 2 years during the course of these jurisdictional wrangling and disputes

By the time of any confirmed placement, treatment and funding plan was secured, Jordan slipped into a coma and shortly died. The tragedy of this scenario was that Jordan's chances and opportunities to live in a home environment outside a hospital setting were never allowed to him, governments needs and inability to come to an agreement came before the needs of Jordan.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs alongside the Kinosao Sipi First Nation, the First Nation Child Caring Society, Assembly of First Nations and all other First Nation agencies have worked exhaustively to push for such a policy change within federal policy and funding mechanisms.

Needless to say our work has been frustrating in getting mainly the federal government to come to agreement or even own up to securing a commitment of a "child First Principle" towards the well-being and funding for disabled First Nation children in similar circumstances such as Jordan.

We have recently seen the federal and provincial Ontario government exercise a "child first"approach towards ensuring the mental health care needs are met for military children of families posted out of CFB Pettawa due to the traumatization of those children whose parents are on active duty.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs applauds the levels of government coming to an immediate and collaborative solution in ensuring these vulnerable children's needs come first before government needs.

We expect no less treatment towards our poorest and most vulnerable population in Canada, namely First Nation children with multiple disabilities. It is the right thing to do.

At the end of the day, however, our First Nation children are suffering. We are witness to these horrifying injustices inflicted upon our children. We are pleased to report that First Nations in Manitoba have received support from the Manitoba government in regard to adopting a "Child First" Principle, but that support is dependent upon federal government cooperation.

We sit here today to show our ardent support and continued perseverance in ensuring that this country lives up to its commitment and words under the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of Children.