Two Saskatchewan organizations are aiming to bring more STEM outreach activities to First Nations students in the province.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) and the Saskatoon Industry Education Council (SIEC) signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday to work together on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities.
FSIN Vice Chief Morley Watson said they want to protect education rights for the students.
“The science and math program is the only program run by the FSIN Education and Training Secretariat that engages in STEM outreach to students and teachers at First Nations schools in Saskatchewan,” Morley said in a statement.
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“We want to ensure access to quality programs that respond to the ever-changing needs of the world in which we live and the on-going regional development of the First Nations education.”
The five-year MOU comes into effect upon signing or on sufficient funding to the SIEC’s SaskCode program, whichever comes first.
The SaskCode program equips teachers with the pedagogy, technological skills and physical tools needed to embed computational thinking and coding into their classrooms.
“(It) provides robotic kits to Saskatchewan teachers to support the integration of computational thinking and coding in K to 12 classrooms,” said SIEC executive director Janice Uchacz-Hart.
“With our FSIN partnership, we will expand our work with Saskatchewan First Nations communities that we are not currently working with at this time.”
SIEC’s goal is to create a bridge between career opportunities and youth through partnerships with businesses and schools.
It provided hands-on events and programs to help students find careers that match their passion and talents with current and future workforce needs.
“The ultimate goal is to provide digital skills development in all schools in the province of Saskatchewan no matter where they reside,” Uchacz-Hart said.
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