For the first time, the Indigenous high school completion rate is on par with the overall completion rate at School District No.46 (SD46).
Superintendent Patrick Bocking called the graduation rate “unprecedented” at a Dec. 12 SD46 board meeting where he highlighted the numbers during his report to trustees.
For the 2017-18 school year, the completion rate for the 30 Indigenous students graduating secondary schools at SD46 was 83 per cent, matching the overall completion rate for the 226 students in the cohort.
The district has just over 3,200 enrolled students, about 21 per cent of which identify as Indigenous. It receives enhanced funding from the province for students of Indigenous ancestry to provide culturally appropriate programs and services.
Between 2005 and 2009 less than half of Indigenous students completed high school at SD46. The rates then began to steadily increase, eventually surpassing the provincial average, which this year was 70 per cent – the highest ever.
In a news release, the B.C. government linked the province’s higher completion rate among Indigenous students to the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in all subjects, and the inclusion of First Nations languages.
Last year, the new Grade 10 curriculum took effect and the transition to the new Grade 11 and 12 curriculums is taking place this year. The new curriculum integrates Indigenous perspectives and culture into all areas of learning, according to the ministry’s summary.
Provincially, there are more than 70,000 students who self-identify as Indigenous, accounting for 11 per cent of the schools’ population.
