The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Fredericton - Boredom, old-fashioned "chalk and talk" teaching methods and French immersion programs are contributing to high truancy rates among Canadian school kids, the author of a major international study on student alienation said Wednesday. Douglas Willms, author of a report for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on student engagement at school, said Canada's truancy rates are higher than most industrialized countries, with 26 per cent of students missing classes regularly. China had the best score with an average of only three per cent of its students skipping classes while the countries with the highest rates were Israel, Bulgaria, Spain and Denmark - all of them averaging over 30 per cent. Willms said Canadian educators could begin by taking a hard look at French immersion programs, found in many schools across the country. Ottawa - Paul Martin's bulging war chest has topped $10 million, his selection as the next Liberal leader is a forgone conclusion, but his organizers say he needs more money. Martin will not stop soliciting cash for the remaining month until the Nov. 15 convention that officially confirms him as the successor to Jean Chretien. Martin filed the latest in a series of reports with Howard Wilson, the federal ethics counsellor, disclosing $1.67 million in new contributions.
