| Lee Greenberg and Vito Pilieci | |
| The Ottawa Citizen; with files from The Canadian Press |
Ontario's high school dropout rate skyrocketed by more than 45 per cent in the four years it took to phase out Grade 13,
Education Minister Gerard Kennedy said yesterday, a jump one critic called "appalling."
Speaking at the annual meeting of elementary school teachers yesterday, Mr. Kennedy said more than 32 per cent of Ontario's secondary school students -- 48,000 students -- dropped out during the 2003-2004 school year. In comparison, in 1999, the year the province introduced a new curriculum phasing out Grade 13, he said the dropout rate was 22 per cent.
"I guess overall we would say 22 per cent (in 1999) wasn't unacceptable and 32 per cent is utterly unacceptable," Mr. Kennedy said yesterday.
He blamed the swelling number of dropouts on the double cohort, a term that describes the oversized graduating class of 2003 as a result of the elimination of Grade 13. And he pleaded with teachers to give more individual attention to students that are under-performing and are likely to drop out.
"There's a lot of things that still need to happen in the system," said Mr. Kennedy. "Part of the challenge here is every teacher needs to take some of the responsibility for what we need to get done."
Mr. Kennedy recently announced an easier high school math curriculum that will begin this fall. A difficult Grade 10 math course had been blamed for discouraging many students, particularly those not bound for university.
However, Mr. Kennedy admitted that more must be done to ensure Ontario youths finish high school. "We're going to publish some goals a little later this fall about where we can take the high school completion rate."
Penny Milton, chief executive of the Canadian Education Association, a non-profit advocacy organization based in Toronto, called the higher dropout rates "appalling."
"It's a really bad sign," she said. "I mean we're supposed to be going in the other direction. We're supposed to be committed to increasing the educational achievement of students in Ontario and in Canada generally."
Ms. Milton could not compare the soaring Ontario dropout rate with those in other provinces because each province has its own way of calculating the rate.
"Up until a few years ago, the prevailing view was that the dropout rate in Canada was between 12 and 18 per cent, but it's difficult to make the comparisons because people are counting in different ways."
Ms. Milton also pointed the finger at the double cohort as a key reason why Ontario's dropout rate has skyrocketed. She said the massive graduating class of 2003, which totalled more than 100,000 students, caused some students to abandon post-secondary education because of the intense competition.
She also said we may see some of those who dropped out return to the education system at some point in the future.
"I mean it's not the ideal, but simply because they dropped out before completing high school doesn't meant they won't pick up their educational lives at some other point," said Ms. Milton.
Yesterday, Mr. Kennedy asked the packed room of 500 teachers attending the annual meeting to help lower the dropout rate by identifying children under the age of 12 that will be in need of extra attention while they are in school.
He asked each teacher in the audience to reach out to one more student each semester to make sure they get the individual attention they need to succeed.
Mr. Kennedy said the Ontario government will help teachers, who already complain of having too much on their plates, to find the time to nurture needy students.
"If we're asking more, then we will take more off the table," he said. "Curriculum expectations will become fewer, and we're already doing that with some of the curriculum that's being published this fall."
Elementary Teacher's Federation president Emily Noble said the minister's requests for teachers to spend more time with needy students will make a difference in the provincial dropout rate.
"You can talk with elementary teachers -- kindergarten, Grade 1 and (Grade) 2 -- and they can identify kids that are at risk already," Ms. Noble said. "I'm pleased the minister is in fact recognizing that we need to do some solid stuff at the elementary (level)."
Elementary teachers have recently signed a new four-year deal with the province giving them a 10-per-cent pay increase in addition to more class preparation time. The deal will also see an additional 1,300 teachers hired to reduce class sizes and act as special resource teachers to tutor students who need individual attention.
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