TORONTO—Former prime minister Paul Martin said a “remarkable” pilot program for reading and writing at two First Nations’ elementary schools should be rolled out across Canada.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, Martin announced results from a four-year literacy program at Walpole Island and Kettle and Stony Point First Nations in Ontario that showed students were well behind provincial reading and writing standards when the study began in 2010.
But by 2014, reading and writing levels of Grade 3 and Grade 6 students were near, and sometimes exceeded, provincial standards.
Martin said he was “taken aback with joy” at the findings.
“What we would very much hope is that the example that was set here will be taken across the country,” Martin told a news conference in Toronto.
The program was funded without government money, Martin said, and led by several organizations, including the former prime minister’s own organization that aims to improve education for aboriginal children in elementary and secondary schools.
