Graduation record in Quebec

File Photo, Simon Clark
The increase in the graduation rate is entirely due to the secondary, this year. These are the same boys who are responsible for this increase, while the graduation rate has climbed 2 %.

Daphnée Dion-Viens

Thursday, 15 February, 2018 00:00

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Thursday, 15 February, 2018 00:00

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For the first time, the graduation rate of students in quebec exceeded 80 %, has learned of The Journal. The increase is even four times greater in boys, who are more likely to complete high school.

According to the most recent figures from the ministry of Education, the proportion of students who have earned a diploma or a qualification seven years after their entry in secondary school is now 80.1 %, compared to 78.8 % last year, a figure that is in constant progression for the last eight years.

With this increase, Quebec is ahead of two years its target which was to achieve a rate of graduation and qualification of 80% by 2020. This includes obtaining high school diplomas, diplomas of professional studies and a dozen skills. However, this year, the increase is entirely attributable to the obtaining of the diploma of secondary studies, which is passed 72.7% 74.0 %. Quebec now wants to pass this figure to 85 % by 2030. “The needle is moving in the right direction,” says Aegis Royer, professor of special education at the Faculty of educational sciences of Université Laval.

Most of the diplomas for boys

Mr. Royer has, however, been much more surprised to see that it is the boys who are responsible for this increase. The graduation rate among girls increased 83.9 % to 84.4 % in a year, whereas in the ranks of the boys, it went from 73.8% to 75.8 %. “This is a nice surprise. There is something going on “, lance-t-il. The gap was so big in the sex that it was easier to gain ground among boys, says this expert. According to the analysis carried out by the ministry of Education, the gender gap “decreases significantly for the first time” for the past five years.

For his part, Michel Perron, an associate professor at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi and is an expert in the field of early school leaving, estimates that this “good news” is explained by the combined efforts of all the stakeholders who work with young people. Mr. Perron sees a direct link with the mobilization implementation there about ten years, when has been created the action Group on student retention, which focuses on the contribution of several actors of the civil society in the fight against dropping out of school.

“We began to measure the effects of this mobilization, in the hope that there will be no decline afterwards,” says Michel Perron. The latter is still “very careful” in the years to come, considering the cuts that have been imposed on the school network in recent years. “This is not won in advance for the cohorts that will follow “, lance-t-il.

Graduation rates on the rise*

Overall rate of graduation :

• 78.8% to 80.1 %
• +1,3 %

Graduation rates for girls :

• 83.9 % 84.4 %
• +0,5 %

Graduation rates of boys :

• 73.8 % 75.8 %
• +2 %

* It is of the cohorts that have been followed in 2014-2015 and in 2015-2016, the most recent figures available at the ministry of Education.