The International Observatory on Academic Achievement - Documentary search

File number :
IST-DSC-06e

Bibliographic reference :
Statistique Canada (2005). Provincial Drop-out Rates - Trends and Consequences, Questions d’éducation. [En ligne]. Numéro 4, 16 décembre 2005.
< http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-004-x/2005004/8984-eng.htm >
Consultée le 30 janvier 2006

Abstract :

Labour Force Survey (LFS), Gender, Rural Areas, Urban Areas, Dropout Rate, OECD, International Comparisons, Educational Inequalities
Abstract This article discusses results from a survey conducted on the labour force (LFS) by Statistics Canada from 1990-1991 to 2004-2005 in all the Canadian provinces.

In the survey, the high school dropout rate is defined as the proportion of out-of-school youths aged 20-to-24 who have not completed high school.

A general decline has been observed in dropout rates across the Canadian provinces since 1990-1991, with a sharper drop apparent in Eastern Canada. For the survey, two groups of provinces were formed: (1) Atlantic Canada, Ontario and British Columbia, with relatively low dropout rates of 8% to 10%; and (2) Quebec and the Prairie provinces, with yet an above 10% dropout rate on average in spite of a decline in the three years prior to the survey. For instance, the dropout rate in Quebec fell from 17% to 12% between 1990-1991 and 2004-2005.

Dropout rates were higher in rural areas and small communities than in urban areas. For instance, the dropout rate in Alberta exceeded 20% in rural areas and small communities, while it was about 10% in urban areas.

Most dropouts were young men. The number of male dropouts has increased in recent years, although the dropout rates have decreased for both genders. There was a sharper decrease for women (from 19.2% to 12.2% for men versus 14% to 7.2% for women). Reasons for dropping out differed across gender. For young men, work and the need to earn money was the main motivation, while close to four out of ten young female dropouts reported having children or being the head of a household.

Although it increased from 1996 to 2005 (from 54.4% to 61.7%), the employment rate remained below that of 20-to-24-year-olds as a whole (67.8%). In 2004-2005, the unemployment rate of dropouts (19.4%) was twice that of 20-to-24-year-olds overall.

Data on dropout rates across 25 countries compiled by OECD have shown that in 2002, Canada ranked near the middle among top countries. With a 10.9% dropout rate, Canada fared more poorly than nine other countries involved in the OCDE study (more particularly, Norway with a 4.6% dropout rate).

Links :
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-004-x/2005004/8984-eng.htm

Key Words :
Labour Force Survey (LFS), Gender, Rural Areas, Urban Areas, Dropout Rate, OECD, International Comparisons, Educational Inequalities, Newsletter13

Monitored Countries :
Canada