High School Graduation Rates
Definition
The percentage of “on-time” 4-year Brandon high school graduates. The bar graph shows the percentage of Non-Indigenous peoples, Indigenous peoples, and Brandon’s overall graduate levels for comparison.
Why This Matters
High quality of education can have positive impacts on an individual’s overall health and wellness. Education can typically lead to increased access to better health care, affording homes in safer neighbourhoods, access to healthier foods, increased job security, and an increased income (American Academy of Family Physicians, n.d.). Therefore, by increasing efforts to encourage quality education to Manitoba’s youth, it could indirectly have positive impacts on our health care system and individual wellness.
The colonization of education has caused major disparities between non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples regarding graduation rates. The Truth and Reconciliation calls to action include educational (calls to action) with the goal of improving education attainment levels and success rates (People for Education, n.d.).
Limitations & Measurements
A limitation to these statistics is they are not exhaustive of individuals who have graduated in 5+ years of high school. Therefore, there are more high school graduates in Brandon than that reported. Another limitation includes that only individuals who attend a school that falls under the Public Schools Act will be included in these numbers, meaning First Nations schools and non-funded independent schools are not counted. Additionally, only those who have legally declared they are Indigenous will be included in the Indigenous graduation numbers. All of these considerations will skew the data reported.
As for the method used, to improve the overall accuracy of these statistics the reported numbers were adjusted to take into consideration if a child moved out of the province of Manitoba, deaths, and students who transferred between non-funded independent schools and public schools that fall under the Public Schools Act.
Data Source
Government of Manitoba, Education and Training. (2020) High School Graduation Rates and Student Achievement Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/grad_rates/index.html
References
American Academy of Family Physicians. (n.d.) Learning matters: How education affects health. Retrieved from https://www.aafp.org/news/blogs/leadervoices/entry/learning_matters_how_education_affects.html
Government of Manitoba, Education and Training. (2020) High School Graduation Rates and Student Achievement Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/grad_rates/index.html
People for Education (n.d.). Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action for Education. https://peopleforeducation.ca/calls-to-action-for-education/
High School Graduation Rates in the Sustainable Development Goals
Click on the SDG to reveal more information
4. Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning
Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development. Major progress has been made towards increasing access to education at all levels and increasing enrolment rates in schools particularly for women and girls. Basic literacy skills have improved tremendously, yet bolder efforts are needed to make even greater strides for achieving universal education goals. For example, the world has achieved equality in primary education between girls and boys, but few countries have achieved that target at all levels of education.