The six-year graduation rate for Aboriginal students in School District 57 increased 8.5% for the 2017/18 school year. This brings the total up to 65.8%.
This trend mirrors the provincial numbers, which shows 70% of Indigenous students successfully finished high school last year and the government lists that as an all-time high.
“For too long, Indigenous students in B.C. were held back by a school system that didn’t reflect their history, honour their communities or meet their needs,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Education, in a statement.
“It’s inspiring to see how quickly Indigenous students respond when we begin to bring down barriers to their success.”
SD 57 superintendent Marilyn Marquis-Forster echoed this need and explained action her district has taken to help boost this number.
“Having Indigenous ways of knowing and doing infused across our curriculum, we also have an Aboriginal education worker in each of our buildings, we’re engaging our Indigenous community and learning from them as to what families and students need.”
The overall six-year graduation rate for SD 57 students is 79.7% for 2017/18. This includes the rates for Aboriginal students, English Language Learners (64.3%), and students who identify with special needs (57.8%).
The rate for each of those student groups rose from 2016/17 to 2017/18, with the largest being a 13.3% jump for special needs students. Marquis-Forster said while it can sometimes be difficult to identify a specific group’s needs, there can also be transferrable solutions.
“As we look at individual students and say this is what’s needed, often when we put something in place for that student we find that same strategy is really effective for other students and maybe some of it is good for all of our students. It has a collective nature about it.”
The provincial six-year completion rate for all B.C. public school students increased by one percentage point, to 86% in 2017/18.