‘We find that almost 56 per cent of elementary students never complete a definite program, receive a certificate or, according to their grades, obtain a good general education,” says the official memorandum from the government Division of Tests and Standards.
No, not from Niger with its adult illiteracy rate of 84.3 per cent, not even Afghanistan with an illiteracy rate of 63.7 per cent.
Dated June 20, 1963, the information came to district superintendents of schools from the Parliament building in Victoria.
The memorandum continued: “We will have almost 5,000 non-grads out of a Grade 12 enrolment of 14,000. Most of these were C or C+ students in elementary school,” meaning that in 1963, a third or more of those kids who made it as far as Grade 12 would not graduate.
In 1963, being 15 qualified for school leaving. No certificate issued — just get yourself out there into the world of work.
In 1963, there were two major secondary-school streams — the general program from which many kids exited at age 15, and the university program in which university aspirants slogged on for a couple of more years.
In 1963, there was concern that the University of B.C., which already had 5,000 students (today it is a shade under 50,000) would raise its entrance requirement to a 60 per cent average.
Today, kids need an academic average of 84 per cent to get into a B.C. university.
Yes, times have changed.
Compared to 50 years ago, many more kids are graduating from Grade 12. According to the Education Ministry, 82 per cent of students graduate “on time” — within six years of entering Grade 8.
Some school districts, however, most notably Kamloops, do not agree with that figure and are publishing their own calculations.
Kamloops identified 167 students counted by the ministry as non-grads who, when removed altogether from the calculation, moved its on-time grad rate to a slightly more respectable 84.1 per cent.
The ministry calculations, said Kamloops district principal Bill Hamblett, were skewed by students who, for example, were in town temporarily to play hockey for the Blazers.
Other students were on Rotary exchange programs, or were international students.
Some students had left the area but were still being counted as non-grads.
To be fair, the ministry has taken steps to update its methods of calculating grad rates. A spokesman says five school districts are using a new system that removes from the total those, including some students with special needs, who never expect to receive a B.C. certificate.
This moves the grad rate in those districts about five per cent higher than the old system.
In 2013, there are very few people who do not eventually complete Grade 12 one way or another — many of them certainly not within six years of enrolling in Grade 8.
Ministry figures annually identify about 25,000 adult students 20 or older who are enrolled in various graduation-path programs.
That 25,000 is about 4.4 per cent more of all public school students who are not counted in the official rates.
And then there are 13,000 continuing education students — another 2.3 per cent. That’s a different group than adult education. For a variety of reasons, these students take courses leading to graduation online.
So the B.C. high-school graduation rate is looking better all the time, and a good thing, too, because while there are many more paths to graduation now than 50 years ago, today’s students with just a Grade 12 diploma aren’t going to be looking at much more than minimum wage for life.
The bottom line? Combine a cautious economy with a 2013 competitive job market, and high-school graduation, while still something to celebrate, is not the end of learning — just the end of beginning to learn.
Lifelong learning leading to higher qualifications is what the 21st century will demand of those looking for a career, not just a McJob.
