Class Act.
According to the province of British Columbia, the educational system “recognizes that children should be enrolled in schools that best fit their interests, skills and abilities. Every child is unique. That’s why the government is encouraging school boards to meet the diverse needs of their students by offering specialty programs or developing ‘magnet schools’ whenever possible.” Providing millions with equal opportunities for success, education opens many doors to future prosperity. Funded by the government, high school education is available regardless of a family’s income. Education in Canada is an inherent birth right, and schools are open to all. Although the discrepancies between groups that graduate grade 12 are staggering, I don’t believe that the government is solely responsible for these gaps. One may argue that certain racial, ethnic, or gender groups are prone to unfair treatment, such as bullying and harassment (which are both detrimental to a student’s growth and future success). However, these issues of abuse are propagated by students, not by the BC Government or the school the child is attending. I’m in no way denying the fact that these inconsistencies are present in the educational system; however, I don’t think it’s fair to blame the government for such pitfalls. For the most part, it is up to the student to put it the time commitment to attend school. Being a successful student requires one to be disciplined and dedicated; from homework to tests, high school is a gruelling (but rewarding) process. It doesn’t matter what ethnicity or gender you are because the educational system is impartial. A person’s racial or ethnic background doesn’t matter in relation to them graduating. No matter what, if a person doesn’t want to put in the time to invest in their education, they won’t graduate (regardless of their exterior appearances).
In the 2007/2008 school year, 58% of Aboriginals graduated from their secondary institutions (i.e. successfully completed grade 12). Because of the horrific and inhumane experiences that previous generations experienced within Residential Schools, a certain amount of mistrust and lack of faith in the school system was passed on and inherited for many years. I am not deterring away from the fact that the implications of these horrific experiences are still resonating within the homes of thousands. However, these previous atrocities shouldn’t be presently conflicting the potential of a student. This mistrust may mean that an Aboriginal parent doesn’t enrol their child in school. That doesn’t affect the graduation rates of Aboriginals, which measure the number of students that do/do not graduate grade 12 (if a child isn’t even enrolled in school, how could does that affect the amount the graduation rate; a person has to be enrolled and in attendance to be applicable for this statistical data measuring the percentage of students that graduate).
