High school dropout rate down significantly on P.E.I.

High school dropout rates are dropping significantly in P.E.I., according to Statistics Canada.

In 1990, the high school dropout rate was 20.1 per cent, compared to 3.2 per cent in 2016. It's the lowest rate yet reported, but withmargin of error considered,it's also comparable to 2014 rates.

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KlarkaZeman, chief of the education indicators section at Statistics Canada, said P.E.I. is in line with what's been happening across Canada. The 2016, dropout rate for the country was 6.3 per cent, down from 16.6 per cent in 1990.

"It's becoming more and more rare for young adults not to havetheir high school diploma."

'There's a lot more opportunity now'

Patricia Parker, 19, dropped out of high school in 2016. She was one course short of being eligible to graduate.

"I didn't quite get to finish high school I didn't focus enough and I wasn't able to finish," she said.

She decided to go back to upgrade her courses at Holland College's Adult Education program.

"There's a lot more opportunity now, I think, everybody's taking advantage of it, and more people should," Parker said."People know now that education is more important."

'More effort spent on resources'

SandyMacDonald, a former deputy education minister and school board superintendent, said there was concerted effort by federal and provincial governments over the last couple of decades to lower drop out rates.

"A lot more effort was spent on resources, in terms of resource teachers and guidancecounsellors," he said.

He said there were more jobs in agriculture, fisheries and many other entry jobs back in the 1990s.

"There were many options for people dropping out of school 25 years ago that no longer even exist," he said.

MacDonaldis now vice president of Academic Programs and Applied Research at Holland College. The college has seen a slow and steady increase with its adult education numbers. There are 800 adult education students enrolled this year.About 150 areGEDstudents, back in school to get a high school equivalency certificate.

MacDonaldsaid it's good to see high school dropout rates going down and young people staying in school.

"If the program is seen to the student to be meaningful, I think they will be much more likely to be engaged and stay in school and thrive," MacDonaldsaid.

Province doing more research

The province declined to comment on the Statistics Canada numbers but officials said they are doing their own research to better track high school dropout rates and expects to release information this spring.

"(We're) tracking students from the time they enter Grade 10, until they graduate three or five years later," saidLuke Walker, information management co-ordinator at the Department of Education.

"It's going to be really informative once we have that picture."

"It will inform our programming. Obviouslythe goal is to get our students through to graduation and so understanding what the numbers are, getting a real understanding of the data is, will inform us where to go, down the road."

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