Yes, education (both formal and informal) is vital to reserves joining the first world. Without education, there is no hope. For example, on remote reserves there is a sense of hopelessness that pervades the communities, so the suicide rates on reserves are extremely high. Last year the overall suicide rate in Pikangikum was .47%, whereas the overall national rate and the national rate for high school aged kids are both down at roughly about .01%.
Internet based education is growing, and may offer better results if made in conjuction with on-reserve teachers, however, program delivery is difficult and still does not solve the cultural dislocation that remote on-reserve Indians face if they eventually move off-reserve. I expect that eventually a combination of web learning, hands on teaching, and gradual introduction into off-reserve life will yield better results, but that sort of blended approach has not been put in place.
We all know about the tragedy of residential schools operated by non-aboriginal authorities. The approach currently taken in Ontario is based on remote reserves not having populations deemed sufficient by the federal and provincial governments to support secondary schools, so students who wish to complete secondary school must do so via the internet or by moving out of their communities. Off-reserve, most secondary schools are jointly funded by the province and by individual municipalities, both of which have taxation authority, whereas on-reserve, education is funded by the feds and the reserves, but the reserves are poor and do not have taxation authority. The province could step up and kick in toward education on reserves, but Status Indians do not pay income tax (provincial or federal) and do not pay the provincial portion of the goods and services tax, so for the most part, the province pushes the feds to pay more rather than dip into the province’s funds.
When Indians from remote reserves seek secondary education, they usually move to one of the urban centres and live with family or friends while attending regular urban high schools. Those high schools sometimes have resources that specifically address the difficulties that students have when moving from a remote reserve. A few communities also have high schools that are run by Indian band associations, and which only accept students from remote reserves. These schools put a tremendous effort in addressing the problems faced by students moving from remote reserves. For students who do not have amily or friends with which to board, Indian band association schools offer placement with Indian families. Despite the very great efforts made by the students, staff and families, the results are often disheartening, for there are huge problems with substance abuse, gang association, cultural dislocation, and sever homesickness, which very often leads to violence and suicides. For example, an Indian band association school in my community graduates about a dozen students per year, while there usually is a suicide at least every couple of years, in addition to deaths from mischance (for example, drinking by the river during the winter). When you do the math (e.g. 5 suicides over 8 years in a four year program in which each cohort is a dozen or less), it comes out to a suicide rate of about .63%. While some of these kids who come here do well, far too many of them come here and die. These are kids who want an educaton. They want to do well and get on with their lives. They do the best that they are able. They are the cream of the crop of young people from their reserves. Yet they continue to die, at rates that are even higher than when on-reserve. It is truly heartbreaking.