Canada. Student Enrolment Declines in Public Schools

Just over 5.16 million students were enrolled in publicly funded elementary and secondary schools during the academic year 2006/2007, down 0.9% from the previous year and down 3.5% from 2000/2001.

Enrolment has declined every year since 2002/2003, as the larger cohorts of graduating students are replaced by the smaller cohorts of grade 1 students.

Between 2005/2006 and 2006/2007, all provinces and territories except Alberta reported declines. In Alberta, enrolment increased 1.6% to just under 561,000.

Similarly, all provinces and territories except Alberta and Nunavut reported declines between 2000/2001 and 2006/2007. During this six-year period, enrolment rose 2.0% in Alberta and 3.6% in Nunavut.

The largest declines during this period occurred in Newfoundland and Labrador (-17.6%), Saskatchewan (-11.6%) and Nova Scotia (-11.0%). This is consistent with population estimates showing that the school-age population fell in all three provinces during the same period.

Enrolment in second-language immersion programs in public elementary and secondary schools increased steadily every year. More than 304,000 students were enrolled in a second-language immersion program in 2006/2007, up 3.1% from a year earlier and up 9.5% compared with 2000/2001.

More than 323,000 students graduated from public secondary schools in 2006/2007, up 3.3% from the previous year and up 5.8% compared with 2000/2001.

In 2006/2007, the graduation rate for publicly funded high schools stood at 71.3%, down from 73.2% in 2005/2006. Among the provinces, Prince Edward Island recorded the highest high school graduation rate at 85.4%, while Alberta recorded the lowest at 65.0%.

The high school graduation rate at the Canada level in 2006/2007 was higher for females (75.3%) than for males (67.6%). Provincial graduation rates for both females and males were highest in Prince Edward Island (89.2% and 81.7% respectively) and lowest in Alberta (68.2% and 62.0% respectively).

Total expenditures in Canada's elementary and secondary schools amounted to $49.6 billion in 2006/2007, up 4.5% from the previous year and up 27.9% since 2000/2001. The six-year rate of growth was almost twice the rate of inflation of 14.4% as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

In 2000/2001, the average cost to educate a student for one year in Canada was $7,696. By 2006/2007, this had increased 33.3% to $10,262. This includes all students at the elementary, secondary, adult and vocational levels.

Among the provinces, the annual cost per student in 2006/2007 ranged from $10,823 in Manitoba to $8,594 in Prince Edward Island.

Part of the increase in costs per student is explained by the fact that despite declining enrolments, the total number of educators (full-time equivalent) increased. In 2006/2007, there were 329,224 educators, up 2.5% from 2005/2006 and up 4.1% from 2000/2001.

Between 2000/2001 and 2006/2007, publicly funded schools attracted young educators and retained older ones. The number of educators aged 29 or younger rose 80.6% to 59,001, while the number of those aged 60 and above almost tripled to 10,594.

Data are obtained from the Department or Ministry of Education in each province and territory and include publicly funded schools.

The term "educator" refers not only to teachers, but to all employees in the public school system who are required to have teaching certification as a condition of their employment. This definition generally includes principals, vice-principals and professional non-teaching staff.

The graduation rate is calculated by dividing the number of graduates from publicly funded schools by the average population aged 17 and 18. This underestimates the "final" graduation rate and should not be used to infer the dropout rate.

Postings are subject to the terms and conditions of Tolerance.ca®.



Your name:

Email

Heading:

Message:

~	Canada. Postsecondary enrolment up

~	Canada. Unemployment related to lack of high school diploma

~	People who have parents with a university degree more likely to get university education

~	Canada. Student enrolment in schools down

~	Canada. High school dropout rate declines

~	Canada. Student employment rate down

~	Canada. Student tuition fees up

~	20% of Canadian teenagers no longer pursue a formal education

~	Canada. 60% of postsecondary graduates have a job related to their education

~	Canada's Budget 2010 does not recognize students' needs, says major student organization