However, the cumulative number of people who have given up on high school continues to grow, and Premier Dalton McGuinty’s goal of an 85-per-cent graduation rate by 2011 looks more and more like a long shot. Early this year, the province announced that Ontario’s high-school graduation rate had climbed to 79 per cent in 2008-09, and gave expanded co-op programs some of the credit. But graduation rates in Ontario only include students who complete their diploma within five years of enrolling in high school.
Julian and other like him don’t count toward Mr. McGuinty’s goal. A few weeks from now, when Julian turns 21, he will join the ranks of CALC’s approximately 2,000 adult students who receive about one-third as much ministry funding as their younger schoolmates. The average per student rate of funding for full-time non-adult students (up to and including those age 20) is $10,730, compared with $3,133 for adult day-school students. (And it’s worth noting that funding for adults is based on attendance, while for younger students it’s based on enrolment.) The result is that Ontario’s adult programs amount to an act of educational charity by cash-strapped school boards. And no board gives more generously to the adult cause than the TDSB, which has five schools like CALC that bring together programs for drop-outs, adults, immigrants and people looking to change careers.
“While the ministry will tell you it’s all in favour of adult education, they do not in any way support us supporting these students,” said trustee Cathy Dandy, whose son recently graduated from CALC. “And our programs could radically expand – I think there’s an eager and waiting clientele out there.”
Ontario’s efforts at improving graduation rates have focused on student retention, but the data suggest there’s room for improvement in terms of dropout recruitment. In 2004-05, fewer than three in 10 dropouts aged 20 to 24 returned to school, according to Statistics Canada.
In the 2007-2008 school year, the TDSB had about 11,000 adults enrolled in continuing education (outside regular day schools), but those numbers are constantly in flux as students come and go from the program.
Co-op becomes the lifeline that the system tosses out to the students who’ve gone adrift.
The turning point for Julian came last fall, when he did a co-op placement at Goodlife Fitness. He cleaned machines, did laundry, arranged weights and answered phones.
“When I first saw Julian in his workplace, he had this real moment of pride in showing me what he took care of,” said Mr. Elder. “In that moment, he was the teacher and I think that was a real defining one for him.”
