A report on three and five year graduation rates shows the Prince Albert Catholic School Division outperforming the rest of the province in almost all areas.
Both First Nations Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) students, and non-FNMI students graduated at higher rates than their provincial counterparts over three and five year periods.
Education director Lorel Trumier said the board always look forward to this report from the Ministry of Education, because it shows the progress students have made.
“It’s a moment of pure celebration for the students that have worked very hard over the years, and for their families who have supported,” Trumier explained. “It’s just such a sense of satisfaction when we see our students graduate. And I know one of the things that we have always enjoyed about graduation is watching the students cross the stage to get their diploma they have such a sense of pride because each student has a story.”
“We’re pleased that our numbers outperform the provincial average in all categories for the five year. We are not satisfied until we have 100 per cent of our students graduating,” she added.
In 2020-2021 Ecole St. Mary High School had their largest graduating class ever with 235 students convocating.
During the discussion on Monday night trustee Darryl Sande asked about the one percent variation between the province and the division in three year graduation rates. This comes down to the demographics of the division,
“It is the proportion of students we have a high number of First Nation Metis students and when you look at the proportion of that to the non First Nations Metis it’s a statistical calculation. So that is why we like to pull that out and isolate and take a look at it. And we have put some efforts to take down the barriers for students whether they are First Nations Metis or they are not First Nations Metis,” Trumier said.
The three year graduation rates for the Catholic Division had a 78 per cent rate for all students, 92 per cent for non-FNMI and 59 per cent for FNMI. The provincial average for all students is 79 per cent, for non-FNMI it is 89 per cent and for FNMI it is 45 per cent.
Five year graduation rates in the Catholic Division were 87 per cent, for non-FNMI were 97 per cent and for FNMI it was 74 per cent. In the province the average for all students is 85 per cent, for non-FNMI was 92 per cent and for FNMI was 62 per cent.
“We know that graduation changes the trajectory of their life and we make it a priority. Again it’s a celebration of our students, their families and all of our staff. There is years of effort trying to support our students so it’s a great culmination of the work that we do,” she said.
