All colleges and institutes offer part-time programs through continuing education departments, and 42 percent of responding institutions confirmed that they offer part- time programs which benefit Aboriginal learners within their communities and regions. A different range of part-time programs are offered including: general interest courses on Aboriginal language, traditions and arts and crafts; literacy; credit programs which include academic upgrading, college and university preparation, computer programs, and Aboriginal Teacher Certificate Programs. Many programs are offered in a flexible delivery format, and bridging programs have been found to be particularly effective for Aboriginal learners.
Aboriginal-controlled institutions were created by First Nations to provide culturally appropriate and relevant curriculum and to address the low recruitment, retention and success rates of Aboriginal peoples in mainstream post-secondary institutions. As mentioned in 2.6, there are two types of Aboriginal institutions in Canada, those which are supported by provincial policy and legislation such as NVIT and SIIT, and those which are not provincially-recognized such as the Aboriginal-controlled institutions in Ontario represented by the Aboriginal Institutes’ Consortium, a national organization has been formed, the National Association of Indigenous Institutes of Higher Learning which has members from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia. The mandate of the national association is to advance, advocate for and support post-secondary, technical, adult and related Indigenous education.
In order to fully understand Aboriginal post-secondary issues, it is important to understand how Aboriginal-controlled institutions are addressing the needs of Aboriginal learners. The range of programs offered by Aboriginal-controlled institutions is very diverse and includes: