The number of high school graduates jumped 7% in Quebec between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, an increase in graduation rates among young people that is far from being felt across the country, reveals Statistics Canada.
Posted at 11:17 a.m.
Statistics Canada figures released on Thursday show that such an increase is specific to Quebec.
For Canada as a whole, the increase in the number of graduates for this same period was only 0.5%. In Ontario, for example, it fell by almost 4%.
The Press reported Wednesday that the cancellation of the ministry’s exams in the pandemic has increased the high school graduation rate in Quebec. It went from 72.7% in 2019 to 77% in 2021.
The Ministry of Education also explains the increase in the graduation rate by the cancellation of uniform tests during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is an “artificial” increase which should not necessarily be welcomed, say experts. “We wouldn’t want to give diplomas at a discount,” said Isabelle Plante, professor in the didactics department at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM).
Dual Homeschooling
The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the number of young people homeschooled in Canada in 2020-2021, further notes Statistics Canada.
There were nearly 84,000 young Canadians not physically attending school this school year, compared to 40,000 the previous year.
“Although an increase was observed for almost all years, it was more pronounced in primary schools, and these are the 1D year (136.2%) and the 2e year (134.5%) that posted the largest increases,” reads the Statistics Canada report.
In Quebec, around 10,000 students were homeschooled in 2020-2021, more than double than the previous year.
At the provincial level, however, this is a minority: there are more than one million young people enrolled in primary and secondary schools in Quebec.