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First Nation Operated Schools in Manitoba and the rest of Canada are schools that are funded by the Government of Canada. In accordance with the Treaty arrangements between the federal government and most individual First Nations, First Nation Operated Schools must be administered by locally elected School boards, and operate outside the direct control of the local Chief and Band Council.
While there is no legislative requirement that Band Operated Schools follow Provincial Curricula, or adhere to the Manitoba Public Schools Act, or the Manitoba Education Administration Act, most First Nation Operated Schools do operate very closely to the way all Provincial Schools operate for the benefit of their students. By following Provincial Curricula, their students can more readily transfer from a Federal school to a Provincial school, and First Nation Operated Schools are able to retain High School Accreditation, so that their Secondary Graduates are recognized by Post-Secondary Institutions.
The most noticeable difference between First Nation Operated Schools and Provincial Schools is in the absence of professional organizations such as The Manitoba Teachers' Society(MTS). Of the fifty-one First Nations Communities that operate Federal Schools, only two have teachers who are members of the Provincial Union, which all other public school teachers are automatically members of under the Public Schools Act and Education Administration Act. The exceptions are members of the Nelson House Teachers' Association in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and the Sandy Bay Teachers' Association in Sandy Bay Ojibwa First Nation. The members of these two Bargaining Units have all the same rights and responsibilities as every other member of the Society, except they are not entitled to the MTS pension and disability benefits plans, as legislation does not exist that would allow these two groups to participate in the plan. The members of these two bargaining units pay the same annual dues as any other members in the Society.