By Greg Fry

Aboriginal graduation rate

Aboriginal high school graduation rates on the rise

Jun 25, 2019 | 2:42 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — The number of Aboriginal high school graduates reached its highest level ever in B.C. last year at 70 per cent.

Numbers are also way up over the past six years in the Prince George School District and local education advocates are optimistic that number will continue to climb.

Ben Berland, general manager of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, has long been an education advocate, dating back to his time working in the education system, pushing for the first Aboriginal focused school in Prince George – Nusdeh Yoh.

Aboriginal graduation rates in SD57 – graph courtesy SD57

He says the results speak for themselves when it comes to increasing graduation rates for Aboriginal kids in School District 57 – which was 65.8 percent last year – a 17 per cent increase over 5 years.

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Interim superintendent of schools in SD57 – Rod Allen – attributes the increase in the graduation rate to a number of factors.

“The hard work of educators. I think the district is increasingly focused on that work around making sure our Indigenous students have their needs met throughout all the grades. The new curriculum in B.C., which has a deep focus on Indigenous views and knowledge, wisdom and so on for all kids.”

Moving forward, he says as schools become more welcoming, as parents feel more at home in the system and as eductors get better at making sure the needs of all students are met, that we’ll see completion rates increase.

In terms of reconciliation, Berland adds it would also help if the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People was implemented in the school system and in society at large.