Author: Marlyn Chisholm
Labour force educational attainment in western Canada still lags that of several other Canadian provinces as well as some of our international competitors. This is a concern because education is a critical determinant of long-term labour force productivity. Higher educational attainment in the labour force can be achieved either through education and training or through greater in-migration of more highly skilled labour. The focus of this report is on improving the educational attainment of western Canadian students.
Among OECD countries, Canada ranked high in terms of overall education attainment in 2004, with 22% of its labour force having achieved a university education. In the same year, however, 30% of the US labour force had a university education, while in Norway and Ddenmark it was 29% and 25% respectively.
Western Canada’s labour force has a lower level of educational attainment than Canada overall. BC and Alberta have seen greater improvement in this regard during the past five years than Saskatchewan or Manitoba.
We could be doing better at helping students to complete high school and enroll in post-secondary education in western Canada. While the high school graduation rate has risen in every Canadian province during the past decade, approximately 9.5% of young workers age 20-24 in the three-year period between 2002-03 and 2005-06 still had no high school diploma. The drop out rates were even higher in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta at 12.6%, 10.3% and 11.3% respectively. The problem is even more acute in rural communities. In rural Manitoba and Alberta, drop out rates were over 20% in the same period.
Results from Statistics Canada’s 2000 Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) show that high school graduates from the western provinces are among those most likely to delay entry to post-secondary education or not to attend post-secondary in the same year. More recent data from 2003 shows that, in the western provinces, the post-secondary participation rates at age 19 were lower than the national average. This reinforces the observation that a greater share of western Canadian students is inclined to delay post-secondary attendance or choose not to attend at all.
So why do more students drop out in the western provinces? The explanation arises from unique obstacles related to geography, community context and cultural differences.
Academic performance in community context: While children in western Canada perform academically as well as, or sometimes better than, those in the rest of Canada, those living in rural and Aboriginal communities have less exposure to adults with high levels of education. In this community context, children do not always achieve to their fullest potential.
Economic choice: The abundance of high-paying jobs in Alberta or Saskatchewan tempts many high school students who are struggling academically or who come from low-income families to leave school early or to rule out post-secondary education.
Cultural differences: Aboriginal students account for approximately 14% of the population in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Their high rate of drop out and low post-secondary participation are largely related to cultural loss, family history of drop out, poverty, the incidence of single-parent families, and high mobility between schools and on- and off-reservation communities.
Delivery of programs in rural communities: Schools in small towns and geographically scattered communities (which characterize the prairie provinces) cannot always provide the infrastructure required for career programs such as mechanics. Rural students who would thrive in these programs may not have the opportunity to do so and are inclined to leave school earlier and enter the workforce.
Other important considerations that block post-secondary participation for many students in the western provinces include:
Family expectations regarding educational attainment in rural communities: A high school graduate with no clear career plan in mind and whose family places less value on higher education is more likely to take an unskilled job and indefinitely postpone college or university attendance.
Geography and perceived lack of local opportunities: High school graduates throughout smaller and rural communities in western Canada do not have local opportunities to attend post-secondary school or an entry point to obtaining a degree. There are also fewer professional jobs waiting in their home communities upon graduation. Geographic distances also present a physical and psychological barrier for those living in northern or remote communities.
Financial constraints: Low income and lack of access to credit both present difficulties to many students, both urban and rural, particularly those who do not live near a college or university and need to move to another town or city.
A comparison of selected educational programs and initiatives now in place in the western provinces, Ontario, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, as of summer and fall 2008, shows that the principal difference lies in how these programs are delivered and the circumstances (social, geographical, economic) in which they are delivered. Many programs are also in a state of evolution.
By the same token, each province offers examples of promising practices to reduce drop outs, and to foster post-secondary participation. One of the most notable is the minimum high school leaving age of 18 in New Brunswick (buttressed with legislation that does not allow students to work during school hours), which is now being contemplated in a few other provinces. Oontario is also planning to withhold drivers’ licenses from students under 18 if they are not in school.
The Netherlands and Denmark offer up some of the newest examples of educational models to keep students in school. In the Netherlands, the government has responded to high unemployment rates among people aged 15-24 by implementing a spate of educational reforms. And as part of its national economic strategy, the Danish government has implemented many initiatives to help meet its objectives of ensuring that all young people should complete a general or vocational post-secondary education program and that over 50% of youth will complete higher education.
The lower rate of educational attainment in the western provinces cannot be ascribed to government programs (or lack thereof). Our review of these has shown that each province has a broad array of programs and initiatives in place to encourage graduation and ready students for the labour force. But the western provinces face unique challenges to delivering their programs and educational reforms as a result of geographic distance, a significant Aboriginal population, and a tight labour market that attracts students into the workforce prematurely.
From our research and interviews with provincial education ministries, it appears that there are not presently many interprovincial initiatives that deal with the issues of drop outs and encouraging post-secondary enrolment. While provincial cooperation appears to be growing, there could be greater cross-pollination of information, successes and ideas among the provinces. Our research has found that there are many successful precedents and educational reforms, both domestic and international, for the western provincial education ministries to draw from.