| The Province of Ontario has some rather disturbing
graduation rates that must be considered when discussing the future of the
public education system.
First of all, survey's of parents indicate that over 70% of all parents
expect their children to go to university.
Statistics show that about 25% of all high school graduates go on to
university. Unfortunately, about half of those students drop out of their
original program, shift to another program, or do not finish their degree.
About 25% of all high school graduates go on to community college. Many
of these students do not complete their program of study, but the
completion rate is a bit higher than that for university.
The other 50% of all high school students either drop out of high
school before getting their Grade 12 diploma or they go directly to work
right out of Grade 12.
These statistics have been the same for as long as we can
remember.
Therefore, when it comes to developing an education system that will
meet the needs of our students and that will enable them to achieve their
career and personal goals after Grade 12, we should take into
consideration these hard facts. For half of our students, college or
university is not going to be an option - not because they "cannot
go" but because they "do not want to go". Society does have
a place for people who do not have a college or university diploma, so we
must stop "pushing" everyone towards university and making them
feel as if they have failed if they choose another path. |
