Outaouais high school graduation and qualification rates up 5%, almost hit provincial average

Sophie Demers

 

Recent analysis of graduation rates for Outaouais’ four school service centres (CSS) and the Western Quebec School Board were published this week. The 2021 graduation rate is 70,9%, based on the latest statistics. This is nearly a 5% increase from the previous year and is very close to the province-wide average of 72.6% for all public schools. For comparison, graduation and qualification rates in the region increased 5% from 2014 to 2015, reports the Ministère de l’Éducation, noting an improvement for the 2021 student cohort.
To compare, the Ottawa-Carleton district school board has a graduation rate of 89.3%, according to the Ontario Ministry of Education.
The current graduation and qualification data is based on students that entered high school in 2015. The Ministère de l’Éducation evaluates the number of students that have received their diploma or equivalent qualifications after 7 years of their entry in high school.
According to the latest number released by the Ministère de l’Éducation, CSS des Draveur has the highest graduation and qualification rate with 74.5%, followed closely by the Western Quebec School Board with 72.5%. The CSS de Portages-de-l'Outaouais has the third highest rate with 70%, followed by CSS au Cœur-des-Vallées with a rate of 66.9%, and CSS des Hauts-Bois-de-l'Outaouais with 57%.
The graduation and qualification rate for boys in the four CSS’s and the WQSB is 66.2%, whereas the rate for girls is 76%. The graduation and qualification rate is the proportion of students that entered high school in a particular year having obtained a diploma or qualification. “The best practices that have developed over the past few years are producing positive results in terms of qualification. Every small step counts and takes us to greater success,” said Denis Rossignol, Director General of the Centre de services scolaire des Hauts-Bois-de-l'Outaouais and Chair of the Outaouais Directors General Table.
A representative from the Centre de services scolaire des Portages-de-l’Outaouais (CSSPO) says that the best practices implemented are collaborative approaches between school staff and the board of directors, the use of research data for best practices, increased monitoring of student outcomes, and the improvement of cooperation in the Board of Directors.