Recent studies have shown an appalling aboriginal high school dropout rate approaching sixty percent. Obviously more must be done to bring these numbers into line with Canadian averages. In the meantime, aboriginal leaders must provide encouragment and financial opportunities to the deserving forty percent who have made the grade. Instead of handing out royalty payments to eighteen year olds who have done nothing to deserve them, substantial monies should be earmarked to assist the high achievers in pursuing their educational goals. Generous scholarship incentives should be available to be “earned” by the best and brightest for both university and technical education and the success of these students should be widely publicized and rewarded to encourage up and comers to follow in their footsteps. If this can be done in the poverty zone of rural India, it surely can be done in Canadian aboriginal communities on an even more widespread basis.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/one-room-schoolhouse-fanatical-teacher-committed-students-freedom-from-a-life-of-poverty/article2105765/