Close X
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C.'s Lauds Jump In Aboriginal Graduation Rate, Still Trails National Average

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Dec, 2015 01:45 PM
    VANCOUVER — British Columbia's government is celebrating record-high graduation rates for aboriginal students, but indigenous high-school completion levels, provincially and for the rest of Canada, still fall significantly short of the national average.
     
    The number of aboriginal students finishing secondary school in the province has increased steadily from about 54 to 63 per cent over the past six years, as indicated by data from B.C.'s Education Ministry.
     
    But that is still more than 20 percentage points shy of the 84-per-cent average for the general population in B.C.
     
    "Seeing any kind of increase in those numbers is of course very welcome," said Linc Kesler, a professor at the University of British Columbia and director of the school's First Nations House of Learning.
     
    Kesler predicted the upward trend will continue with further efforts to bridge the funding gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal students and by increasing the amount of aboriginal content being taught in school.
     
    "The curriculum piece is really critical," he said.
     
    "Overcoming the silence and exclusion of aboriginal people in the way, for instance, Canadian history is taught ... is really important and I think has a really significant impact."
     
    Kesler pointed to a big push underway in the Prairie provinces to overhaul school curricula to include First Nations content.
     
    The word aboriginal is an all-encompassing term that includes First Nations, Metis and Inuit. There are about 1,175,000 aboriginals in Canada, of which about 700,000 identify as First Nations.
     
    A 2011 Assembly of First Nations report pegged the 2004-2009 First-Nations graduation rate at 36 per cent, compared to a Canadian average of 72 per cent over the same time period.
     
    The Canadian Press obtained a 2014 Manitoba government internal report earlier this year that noted the province had the lowest First Nations secondary-school graduation rate in the country at 28 per cent. However, a Statistics Canada publication from 2011 found 50 per cent of Manitoba's indigenous people between 25 and 64 have at least a high-school degree.
     
    A shifting culture is also having an impact on improved graduation rates, said Kesler, with more encouragement for aboriginal students to carry on to university or college.
     
    "There was once a time when ... there wasn't such an interest in seeing them graduate or proceed to post-secondary," he said. "People were being tracked out of academic courses with a fair degree of regularity."
     
    B.C.'s Education Minister Mike Bernier was unavailable for comment, but said in a statement that he's encouraged to see so many aboriginal students graduating at the same time.
     
    "There is still work to do so every aboriginal student has the skills they need to succeed in a changing world," said an additional statement from the ministry.
     
    University of Manitoba academic Frank Deer says there are still remote communities in the North that don't offer kindergarten to Grade 12 schools, and that graduation rates tend to be higher in southern Canada, closer to urban centres.
     
    Deer referenced a program that sees First Nations students in a Winnipeg school district placed in health-care work settings between Grades 9 to 12 in order to focus on the connection between education and a career.
     
    The retention rate for the initial group was an "amazing" 100 per cent, he said.
     
    "We're in an exciting era where many school districts, many provincial authorities, are beginning to engage in program development, engage in community supports," said Deer.
     
    "I do see the glass half full. In fact, better than that — I'm very encouraged for the future."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Smartphone Maker Blackberry Priv, Company's First Android Device, Goes On Sale

    Smartphone Maker Blackberry Priv, Company's First Android Device, Goes On Sale
    TORONTO — The stakes are high for BlackBerry as its first Android-powered device goes on sale today.

    Smartphone Maker Blackberry Priv, Company's First Android Device, Goes On Sale

    Protesters Stage Sit-in On Justin Trudeau's Doorstep To Push For Action On Emissions

    Protesters Stage Sit-in On Justin Trudeau's Doorstep To Push For Action On Emissions
    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's first full day on the job Thursday came complete with a protest by environmentalists outside the gates of his new Rideau Hall residence.

    Protesters Stage Sit-in On Justin Trudeau's Doorstep To Push For Action On Emissions

    Montana Family Has Third Set Of Twins, 7 Kids Total

    Montana Family Has Third Set Of Twins, 7 Kids Total
    Tiffany and Chris Goodwin knew what to expect when they learned they were having twins this fall.

    Montana Family Has Third Set Of Twins, 7 Kids Total

    Environment Canada Experts To Discuss Analysis Of Montreal Sewage Dump

    Environment Canada Experts To Discuss Analysis Of Montreal Sewage Dump
    Environment Canada is set to release the results of an independent analysis into Montreal's plan to dump eight billion litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River.

    Environment Canada Experts To Discuss Analysis Of Montreal Sewage Dump

    Mosquito Species Capable Of Transmitting Dangerous Viruses Found In B.C.

    Mosquito Species Capable Of Transmitting Dangerous Viruses Found In B.C.
    A team from Simon Fraser University and workers with a mosquito control company say the species, Aedes japonicus, was found in mosquito larvae in standing water in Maple Ridge, a suburb east of Vancouver.

    Mosquito Species Capable Of Transmitting Dangerous Viruses Found In B.C.

    Teens' Huge Weight Loss, Health Gains Last At Least 3 Years After Obesity Surgery, Study Says

    Teens' Huge Weight Loss, Health Gains Last At Least 3 Years After Obesity Surgery, Study Says
    The largest, longest study of teen obesity surgery shows huge weight loss and health gains can last at least three years, and many say it's worth the risks.

    Teens' Huge Weight Loss, Health Gains Last At Least 3 Years After Obesity Surgery, Study Says