Province collaborating with communities to keep youth in school

Consultation on high school completion looks for new solutions

Edmonton...Alberta communities are being invited to play an active role to help increase Alberta’s high school completion rates. Your Future Starts Here, a province-wide consultation, began in May and June, when youth across Alberta participated in a series of roundtable discussions, and will culminate in a provincial symposium at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton on September 24-25.

The provincial symposium will bring together people with an interest in high school completion – including youth, parents, educators, business leaders and community organizations – to discuss barriers to high school completion and develop community-based solutions. This feedback will be used to help develop a strategy to increase high school completion rates. Symposium participants will also be encouraged to continue the discussion at a community level to further explore the roles we all play in keeping students in school.

“School jurisdictions and communities across Alberta have already done some great work to keep more of their students in school, but we know more needs to be done,” said Education Minister Gene Zwozdesky. “There are programs in place for students who find that the traditional learning system doesn’t fit their learning needs. This consultation will help us find new ways to make a difference in the lives of those students who need our help.”

Alberta’s five-year high school completion rates have been increasing steadily, reaching 77.4 per cent in
2004-05. There has been significant work at the school jurisdiction level to increase completion rates, such as outreach programming for junior and senior high students and the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement. Government’s long-term goal is to reach a 90 per cent high school completion rate, as recommended by the Alberta Commission on Learning. Your Future Starts Here is intended to generate new, community-based solutions to help reach this goal.

“We all have a personal stake in making sure our high school completion rates continue to increase,” added Zwozdesky. “This year we’re bringing everyone to the table, rolling up our sleeves and working collaboratively to find new solutions to this pressing societal issue.”

The Your Future Starts Here consultation in support of high school completion furthers one of the key opportunities outlined in the Government of Alberta Strategic Business Plan, "Leading in Learning", by ensuring Alberta has an excellent learning system that meets the needs of learners, society and the economy. This initiative also supports two strategic priorities in Alberta Education’s 2006-09 Business Plan, "Success for All Students", and "Building and Educating Tomorrow’s Workforce".

More information about Your Future Starts Here, including an opportunity for Albertans to provide feedback, is available at www.education.gov.ab.ca/highschool or by e-mail at hsc@edu.gov.ab.ca

Backgrounder

Province collaborating with communities to keep youth in school
Consultation on high school completion looks for new solutions

High School Completion Symposium
The provincial High School Completion Symposium at the Shaw Conference Centre on September 24 and 25 will bring together people from across Alberta with an interest in this issue, including youth, parents, educators, and business and community leaders. Participants invited to the symposium will discuss the challenges some youth face in completing high school, and will explore both province-wide and community-led solutions. The symposium will also include a videoconferencing component.

Today’s Opportunities, Tomorrow’s Promise
Today’s Opportunities, Tomorrow’s Promise: A Strategic Plan for the Government of Alberta lays out the course for the Alberta government for the next 20 years. The complete Today’s Opportunities, Tomorrow’s Promise strategy document is available at http://www.gov.ab.ca/. It outlines four key opportunities for Alberta to maximize its potential: