James Smith Cree Nation has officially opened the East Central First Nations Education Partnership. The partnership took over the administration of Bernard Constant Community School in James Smith Cree Nation in 2020, but the pandemic delayed the partnership’s official opening. Funding from Indigenous Services Canada now comes directly to the partnership, which spends it solely on education. The partnership has brought additional staff and capacities to the school. The school has also added courses such as land-based education to the school’s offerings. “[B]ringing [land-based teachings] back into the school and to mainstream education right now is a big improvement from one when I first went to school here,” said James Smith Cree Nation Chief Kirby Constant. “I just hope that other nations can piggyback off what we have been doing here and, going forward, they can use … the lessons learned for their curriculum.”
