More Indigenous kids are graduating, but more needs to be done: B.C’s Auditor General

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) — Three years after telling the province what needs to be done to improve education for Indigenous children, B.C.’s Auditor General is finding that there is still a lot of work to be done to even the playing field.

Indigenous kids are still lagging behind their non-indigenous counterparts in B.C. schools, according to Carol Bellringer.

The good news, she says, is that the gap between the two groups is smaller than it was three years ago, but a gap remains.

“Among other things there are gaps in graduation rates, reading, writing and math assessments, and in how safe Indigenous students feel in school,” she says.

The graduation rate is now 16 per cent lower for Indigenous kids than non-Indigenous kids, up from 24 per cent in 2015. But that’s still not good enough, she says. Gaps also remain in reading, writing and math assessments and feeling of safety at school.

B.C.’s education ministry has taken substantial action and made progress on the 12 recommendations she made in 2015, she adds, but only four of them have been implemented fully.

She says the overall strategy on addressing this issue, public reporting, and collecting data on what is and what is not working are some areas that still need work.

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