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.
Manitoba's high school dropout rate is the second highest in Canada, a statistic that has the opposition Progressive Conservatives on the offensive. A new C.D. Howe report shows the share of high school students who drop out in Manitoba is 11.4 per cent, compared to the national average of 8.5 per cent. "A high school diploma not only prepares our youth for post-secondary studies, it also sends a strong signal to prospective employers and increases employment options," said PC Education Critic Cliff Cullen. "A dropout rate that is the second highest in Canada does not bode well for Manitoba's long term competitiveness." Cullen said the report comes on the heels of a Program for International Student Assessment report released in late 2010 that showed Manitoba students have fallen behind in areas such as literacy, science and math. He accused the government of being "focused on micromanaging school boards and creating convoluted taxation policies" when dropout rates are the real concern. But the NDP government has long defended its record on education and the funding levels it has pumped into school divisions. Now the province is moving to raise the legal dropout age from 16 to 18, a step it hopes will strengthen graduation rates.
