‘Canada’ performed well in the recent OECD’s Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022. Canada placed 6th in reading and 7th in science. In mathematics, Canada placed above the OECD average. PISA 2022 results indicated that Canada was among ten countries that had achieved “high levels of socio-economic fairness”. Canada’s education system was described as “highly equitable” in terms of inclusion and fairness. However, the Canadian results must be taken with caution. Only provincial schools were involved with PISA. Canada’s federal system of education, i.e., First Nation and federal schools, was excluded. The exclusion of these schools is usually explained due ’to the exercise of the exclusive jurisdiction of the provinces and territories over education’. In other words, the federal government has no educational constitutional responsibilities. This is simply false. The Canadian constitution assigns responsibility for education to both the federal and provincial/territorial governments. PISA has never included First Nation/federal schools. Canadian results would be much lower if these schools were included. This article will examine the rationale for and the international and domestic consequences of the non-inclusion of First Nation schools in PISA. The terms Indian, Native, and Aboriginal have been largely replaced by First Nations and Indigenous in Canada. First Nations are peoples who signed treaties or given the ‘status’ of First Nations by the federal government. The term Indigenous includes First Nation, Metis, and the Inuit.

Author: Ron Phillips

Published in: World Congress on Education (2024)

• Date of Conference: 26-28 August, 2024
• DOI: 10.20533/WCE.2024.0017
• Electronic ISBN: 978-1-913572-71-6
• Conference Location: Churchill College, Cambridge, UK