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By Veronica Beltran

coming together

Northern post-secondaries enhance supports for Indigenous students and access to remote education

May 7, 2020 | 12:46 PM

PRINCE GEORGE— Four northern B.C. post-secondaries are helping enhance supports for Indigenous students and investing in technological solutions to improve access for remote education, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The University of Northern British Columbia, College of New Caledonia, Coast Mountain College, and Northern Light College are partnering with the Mastercard Foundation to collaborate on the project.

The project would see additional funding for student counselling support, employment opportunities for students, and a last-mile connectivity technology project to ensure students are able to access online programming.

$380,000 from the Mastercard Foundation Recovery and Resilience Program will be evenly divided between the four post-secondaries.

“This support from the Mastercard Foundation will be transformative in assisting our current Indigenous students as they realize their academic goals during this period of uncertainty,” said UNBC Interim President, Dr. Geoff Payne.

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“By collaborating with communities, technology innovators, and our northern post-secondary partners, this project will enhance the capacity for future distance education through improved internet access.”—Dr. Geoff Payne, UNBC Interim President

The program will help Indigenous communities and young people respond to the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indigenous students studying at one of the four institutions will also receive academic mentoring and mental health counselling to help them navigate the barriers and challenges that come with the pandemic, such as isolation.

Each institution will develop employment opportunities focused on investigating how to address the challenge of isolation, lack of connectivity, and the resultant barriers and challenges for students. The student employees will also explore the best practices and learning models that work will in this context.