This will be the location of the Northern Indigenous Teacher Education Program. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

New Partnership

‘For the North, by northerners’: New teacher education program in La Ronge

May 2, 2019 | 4:46 PM

Gabriel Dumont Institute, in partnership with the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB), are currently accepting students into the new Northern Indigenous Teacher Education Program (NITEP).

The program is expected to begin this fall with up to 30 seats available in the first intake. According to LLRIB Director of Education Simon Bird, 20 people have already applied and it’s open to anyone wanting to earn a Bachelor of Education degree. He noted there will be an intake of students every year and there will be support in place for First Nations and Métis students.

“Our leadership, chief and council, have always stated ‘For the North, by northerners,’” Bird said. “We strongly feel that any of our band members should be getting an education as close to home as possible, so we can maintain our professionals in the North. It’s all about building capacity”

The new program will be created in a facility across the road from Senator Myles Venne School in a building currently used for a daycare and Head Start programs, as well as health and dental offices. He also stated it’s not a duplication of services already offered at Northlands College because NITEP will be focused on local content delivered by local people and elders. That would include training teachers in land-based education, Indigenous languages and northern culture.

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Bird stated NITEP is also meant to be a long-term solution for the teacher shortage in northern Saskatchewan. He added financial support for tuition, books and a living allowance are available for First Nations and Métis students.

“That will be one of the unique aspects of this program,” Bird said. “We’re open to anyone who wants to make La Ronge their home for the next four years. You don’t have to be Métis or First Nations, but we are saying when you come up North, we hope you stay up North.”

Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI) Executive Director Geordy McCaffrey stated NITEP is a partnership “made in heaven” as both sides have a lot to offer. For instance, GDI has more than 40 years of experience in education and has trained 1,200 teachers in that time. In the years to come, he stated NITEP will expand to offer a Masters of Education program, liberal arts classes and a university preparedness course.

“We just felt our needs weren’t being met in the North, so with the loses of NORTEP/NORPAC, there was this great big vacuum that was created,” McCaffrey said. “I think we’re trying to fill that vacuum and create local teachers who can be Métis and First Nations cultural experts in northern classrooms.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno