By Pepper Parr
April 2, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Ontario’s provincial high school graduation rate has increased again, with more students gaining the skills and knowledge they need to thrive and prosper.
The rate of students graduating within five years of starting high school was 84 per cent in 2014, which is 16 percentage points higher than the 2004 rate of 68 per cent. The percentage of students graduating in four years is 76 per cent, an increase of 20 percentage points since 2004, when it was only 56 per cent.
Since 2004, approximately 163,000 more students have graduated than would have if the graduation rate had remained at the 2004 level.
The provincial government is going to publishing school board level graduation rates from across the province. Ensuring parents, students, teachers and boards have access to consistent data will help inform efforts to improve students’ success.
It is difficult to fathom how publishing the graduation rate is going to help a student. It might help parents push their boards to improve the performance on teachers in high schools – seems like an expenditure that doesn’t need to be made.
The idea of sending anyone out in the world with anything less than a high school education is close to criminal. The only way to earn a living without a high school education is to steal or sell drugs – which is of course what far too many of them end up doing.
It would help too if the provincial government could work to create an economy that resulted in jobs for those who do graduate.
Graduation rate for students who took five years to complete high school.
The Halton District School Board does keep graduation statistics. The Gazette education reporter Walter Byj will be reporting on this soon.
The graph below shows the rate of change for students who took five years to complete their high school education
