The BC government is increasing the number of teacher education seats for Indigenous students with a $2.7 million investment that was announced today in Merritt.

The funding is in response to a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Advanced Education Minister Melanie Mark says $1.4 million will go towards those new spaces, with another $600,000 will help integrate Indigenous knowledge into the teacher education curriculum.

“I believe in my heart that we have to lift people up and that we can’t leave people behind, and if you open those doors, they will walk through those doors,” Mark said. “Currently, only about 4 to 6 per cent of BC teacher graduates are indigenous. That’s just not good enough, and we need to do something about it.”

Of the $600,000 that was announced – $200,000 will go to the Association of B.C. Deans of Education, while $50,000 each will go to the University of Victoria, Vancouver Island University, Simon Fraser University, UBC, UBC Okanagan, University of Northern British Columbia, Thompson Rivers University and the University of the Fraser Valley.

“There are so many opportunities in a way that our grandparents didn’t get in their childhood and I just think that is the work that we need to be doing to make sure that the future looks as bright as possible,” Mark added.

The other $730,000 will go to the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology to expand its Masters of Education program.

Mark says Indigenous people have been fighting for generations to ensure that their peers are at the front of the classroom, and that they can be role models for others to follow.