b'INDIGENOUS EDUCATION COMMITTEEREPORTAs public school boards nationwide continue to address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, no one has lost sight of the need to sustain pre-pandemic efforts to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for Indigenous students and communities. If anything, the pandemic has all too often served to highlight where inequities exist across our public education system in Canada, so that we can together provide a meaningful and practical response to meeting the needs of every student. As has been so appropriately illustrated by the Orange Shirt Day slogan echoed in our classrooms from sea to sea, we embrace the fact that every child matters, chaque enfant compte. The 2020/21 school year has therefore seen the work of the Indigenous Education Committee increasinglyfocused on the several initiatives that we feel shall promote the work of every public school board inadvancing the cause of Indigenous education. In collaboration with the Assembly of First Nations, we continue to define and scope the creation for eventual establishment of a national award program that will recognize meaningful examples of local reconciliation between public school boards and First Nations communities. Drawing upon significant work already achieved in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, we will launch areference guide for implementation of strengthened accountability frameworks built on promoting better outcomes for Indigenous students attending public schools. It is also the committees intention to buildfurther on this work through the actualization of a promising practices guide for implementation of education agreements between First Nation and public school boards given the wide array of models currently adopted in every province.The committee would like to thank CSBA President Laurie French and Executive Director Nancy Pynch- Worthylake for the inauguration of the CSBA anti-racism initiative in 2021. While this initiative seeks to review the associations own structures, processes and practices to achieve greater equity and diversity, that thelessons being learned from this work bear real application for our work as an Indigenous EducationCommittee is more than evident. It is only by challenging institutionalized racism in every form that we can, as public school boards, embrace all members of our community in every form. That we look forward tocontinuing this journey of self-reflection and betterment goes without saying. As part of this initiative, thecollection of training modules in written and audio-visual form from CSBA members on subjects of anti- racism, diversity and non-discrimination is an important resource that all members can draw upon to support their provinces by sharing this valuable repository. Starting this July, we were also excited because, for the very first time, CSBA welcomed all First Nationeducation directors to attend this years virtual congress and National Trustee gathering on IndigenousEducation, co-hosted by our friends at QESBA and CASSA. Our sincere gratitude to QESBA for providing free access to any education director who wished to join us, and our gratitude to the Assembly of First Nations for facilitating this invite. We certainly intend to use this years Congress as a springboard for extending such invitation as part of our regular practice. Later in summer, as in previous years, CSBA was welcomed to take part in the significant NationalRoundtable on Truth and Reconciliation, and received great benefit from the wide array of attendees andpresentations who were able to attend due to the move to a virtual format. That this year has onlystrengthened our signature foundation and commitment, in terms of acknowledging truth and championing reconciliation by confronting, addressing and reversing the legacy of residential schools in Canada for future generations of students, could not be deeper. 12'