West Quebec’s high dropout rates

Quebec funds stay-in-school programs 

 

Laurent Robillard-Cardinal

The provincial government, via the Minister responsible for Outaouais, Stéphanie Vallée, inked an agreement on February 2 aimed at improving student perseverance in West Québec. The agreement is part of the government’s strategy, “L'école, j'y tiens”, encouraging youth to stay in school.

 

The Table Éducation Outaouais, which includes most of the actors within education, is already working to improve student retention by helping students identify their strengths and potential career paths. “We tell our children to dream and dream big, but it’s not always easy. When youths identify their strengths, then they can start making links (for their futures),” said Brigitte Ménard, Director General for Table Éducation Outaouais. Student perseverance in Outaouais remains the challenge, and Ménard believes it must focus on “our youth at the 

minimum obtaining one (career) qualification.”

 

Papineau MNA Alexandre Iracà, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education, echoed Ménard’s views. “We will pool our resources and develop projects that will attract young people and promote student retention. We want to awaken in them a sense of belonging and pride in our region and encourage them to contribute to influence all spheres of activity,” he declared.

 

Culture’s major role

 

The Education Ministry will work with the Ministry of Culture to encourage school perseverance, noted Hélène David, Minister of Culture and Communications. “Culture . . . promotes the acquisition of knowledge, personal development and a strong sense of belonging at school. This agreement is in the spirit of the program “La culture, toute une école”, since it links the value and strengths of education and culture,” said Mme David.

 

Student retention across the province is low. Québec’s drop-out rate for 2012-2013 reached 15.3%, 18.8% for boys and 11.9% for girls. Private schools fare better (5.9%) since they can select their students.  The Outaouais has one of the highest drop-out rates in the province.

 

Why in West Quebec?

 

It’s unclear why student perseverance remains such an issue in West Quebec, but there are several hypotheses. Brigitte Ménard suggests “Our border with Ontario could be problematic. Also many residents don’t have a strong sense of belonging with the region, because a good deal of the population only comes here to work and raise their children, and then they leave. Studies also indicate that students with parents who openly criticize a school in front of their children unwillingly send a message that their school is not so good; these negative messages shape the child’s perception of school”.

 

Within the Western Quebec School Board, the retention rate is 69.7% - 70.7% for boys and 68.8% for girls in 2013-2014, for the WQSB’s 2006-2007 cohort. The 2017 target for the WQSB is 80%.

 

Chairman Shea argues statistics for his board are slightly skewed because of the method used by the Ministry to calculate the retention rate. “One issue is the definition of a high school leaver. If a young person were to leave school and not register in another school (here), for a period of time, that student will be classified as a drop-out, even if he is registered at an Ontario school,” explained Shea. This is an old problem.

 

It means if a student from D'arcy McGee High leaves school and registers with Rideau High, in Ottawa, Québec will identify the student as a school leaver. However, if that student surfaces within the adult-ed system in Québec, within seven years, the code no longer classifies him or her as a school leaver. Mr Shea said the board is negotiating this issue with the Ministry of Education. “We should be talking to young people before they leave school, about where they are going and, of course, encourage them to maintain their education,” said Shea. “The challenge is in identifying where the school leavers go.”