School District 52 saw a 13 per cent jump in Aboriginal high school completion rates last year.
New data from the B.C. education ministry shows that 63 per cent of Aboriginal students in the North Coast school district graduated in the 2016/2017 school year with 69 graduates.
“We’re very pleased to see that we’re getting closer and closer to parity, with Aboriginal as well as students with special designations,” said Ken Minette, superintendent for School District 52.
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For all students in the district there was a slight three per cent increase in graduates from the year prior with a 70 per cent completion rate. There were 136 graduates in total out of 204 students.
The data also shows that special needs students also had a 70 per cent completion rate, with a five per cent increase from the previous year and a 24 per cent increase from the 2014/2015 school year.
“Hopefully that trend will continue. We attribute the increase to the good work of all our staff, EAs (educational assistances), principals and, in particular, teachers,” Minette said.
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In comparison, the average high school completion rate across the province was 84 per cent, a gradual climb of five per cent in the past 10 years.
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With files from Tom Fletcher.
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