B.C. Girl Guides to receive as many credits as Scouts after taking inequality to gov’t

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Girl Guides across British Columbia will soon receive additional high school credit after noticing Scouts, their male counterparts, were getting nearly double.

The Ministry of Education offers school credit for some courses and programs outside of public schools, led by a set list of approved organizations. Both Guides and Scouts can get these credits through civic action and work in their communities, but where Scouts get four credits for their work, Guides have only been getting two.

Diamond Isinger, B.C.’s Provincial Commissioner with the Girl Guides of Canada, says the issue was recently brought to light by a 12-year-old Girl Guide from Ladysmith.

“Kylar said that she really felt that the achievements that she was making in Girl Guides she was not getting enough credit for,” Isinger says. “When we looked into it, we found that compared to a lot of other youth-serving organizations, especially those that cater to male membership, [they] were receiving double the credit that our girls were receiving.”

The Girl Guides took the issue to the provincial government and effective Sept. 1, the Ministry of Education will now offer the same credit to Girl Guides that the Scouts get.

“Girl Guides across British Columbia who obtain their awards in Pathfinders or Rangers, our groups for teenage girls, will be entitled to two full high school courses worth of credit,” Isinger says.

It’s a big win for the organization, she says, and strengthens a core Girl Guide message – that young women speak out against inequality.

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