Three new scholarships part of company’s ongoing commitment to Truth and Reconciliation in Canada 

Toronto, April 3, 2018- NELSON, Canada’s leading educational publisher,haslaunched a scholarship program for Indigenous youth. The scholarship program, open to First Nation, Métis and Inuit students in their last year of high school, is just one of many ways that the company is seeking to help empower Indigenous young people in their journey towards educational success and achievement.

Canada ranks first among all OECD countries in our proportion of college and university graduates[1]. Despite this, there is a marked divide in post-secondary achievement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. The Indigenous population in Canada is young and rapidly growing. Promoting equitable access to post-secondary education is a crucial step to ensuring that our Indigenous youth are given the opportunity to pursue advanced studies and participate in and benefit from Canada’s future economic and social development.

“All students need to be given the tools to succeed; to learn, to thrive and to find their voice,” said Steve Brown, President and CEO at NELSON. “For too long, many of our Indigenous students have faced barriers to post-secondary success. Through these scholarships, we are hoping to alleviate some of the financial strain these students face and to support more equitable access within our system.”

NELSON champions reconciliation and is actively working to help change the relationship that Canada has with Indigenous peoples. For the company this is, first and foremost, about creating culturally-accurate, curriculum-aligned educational resources that are shaped by and include authentic Indigenous voices and experts. All staff members have been educated on the systemic harms facing Indigenous people in Canada and, most recently, NELSON has supported The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund Legacy Space Project which invites businesses and institutions to create a “Legacy Space” within the organization dedicated to reconciliation.

“Canadians are on a collective journey towards reconciliation. Through their support of Indigenous youth, NELSON is helping to empower young people to be the leaders in their communities that they are meant to be, and to play an integral role in helping our country to achieve its full potential,” said Kevin Lamoureux, Education Lead at The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) at the University of Manitoba.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada recognizes that Indigenous languages are a fundamental and valued part of Canada’s culture and that there is an urgency to preserve them. To qualify, students must be completing their final year of high school, have achieved an average of 80 per cent or higher and have demonstrated a commitment to preserving Indigenous languages and culture. First Nation, Métis and Inuit students are eligible to apply for the NELSON scholarships, each valued at $3,000 plus $500 of NELSON product. The scholarships are in addition to NELSON’s Civic Scholarships program.

The scholarship application process will be open from April 3, 2018 until June 29, 2018. To learn more about the scholarship application requirements and details, please visit: nelson.com/scholarship

About NELSON

NELSON is Canada’s largest and leading educational publisher. NELSON believes in the evolution of life-long education and dedicates its business efforts to the creation of quality, innovative solutions that support the needs of every student, teacher, and instructor to empower learning success. For more information about NELSON, please visit us at Nelson.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

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