The Indigenous graduation rate is well below the provincial average. (Photo186706808©David Wood/Dreamstime.com)

By Derek Cornet

new report

Provincial auditor calls for changes to boost Indigenous graduation rate

Jun 9, 2023 | 8:45 AM

Saskatchewan Provincial Auditor Tara Clemett has made recommendations to increase the Indigenous three-year graduation rate, which currently sits below 50 per cent.

Clemett released a report on June 6 in which she assessed the Ministry of Education’s implementation of the Inspiring Success: First Nations and Métis PreK–12 Education Policy Framework to improve educational outcomes for Indigenous students.

“Although the Ministry implemented several initiatives since the Framework’s release in 2018 targeting Indigenous student graduation rates, these rates remained relatively unchanged between 2018–21 at 44.7 per cent of Indigenous students (compared to 88.7 per cent of non-Indigenous students) graduating within three years of beginning Grade 10,” she wrote in her report.

“The persistent disparity in graduation rates, and other outcome measures like reading levels, between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students makes it important for the Ministry to make concerted efforts to improve educational outcomes for Indigenous students.”

The situation is particularly serious in northern Saskatchewan where more than 90 per cent of students are Indigenous. According to the Northern Lights School Division annual report, as of June 2022, 26 per cent of students graduated within three years of entering Grade 10 compared to the provincial average of 76 per cent. Of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) students, 23 per cent graduated within three years while 80 per cent of their non-FNMI peers did the same.

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Data shows the 2022 grad rate is similar to the grad rate a decade ago. In 2012, 28 per cent of students were graduating within those three years. The rate for non-FNM students went up, however, from 53 per cent to 80 per cent.

In order to increase graduation rates, Clemett explained the Ministry of Education needs to expand measures and targets it sets for Indigenous student academic achievement beyond graduation rates, require enhanced reporting from school divisions on Indigenous student success related to expanded measures and targets, as well as determine action plans to address root causes of underperforming initiatives related to Indigenous student success.

“We found none of the goals within the Framework indicated how or when the Ministry plans to measure the Framework’s success,” she wrote.

“Having measurable goals helps organizations monitor progress and decide whether changes are needed. Setting additional measures and targets that focus on improving Indigenous student achievement (such as numeracy, literacy, attendance, and Indigenous-student feedback and engagement assessments) would allow the Ministry to analyze relevant data and identify improvements to share with school divisions.”

Northern Lights Director of Education Jason Young noted over the years, the division has seen a number of strategic plans from the Ministry of Education and he called them very similar. He mentioned if results haven’t changed significantly in that time, then perhaps it’s time to address what the province’s strategic plan might look like and offer a different approach and see if that results in a change in the grad rates.

“With the grad rate, we go through our data and we see some grad rates that are very low grad rates, but in instances where we see better grad rates and what are they doing that we can learn from,” Young said. “What are they doing that other schools can do to contribute to their success and learn from each other that way.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno