High School Completion

Increasing Alberta's high school completion rates
Finishing high school is an important step for young people to create a positive future for themselves, their families and their communities.

Alberta's future prosperity rests on our ability to generate a well-educated workforce that is responsive to change. Among the key priorities of our province's education system is to ensure all of our students are successful - both in school and in life.

While Alberta's high school completion rates are steadily increasing, the active involvement of parents, businesses, local communities and youth is needed to reach the province's long-term goal of ensuring 90% of students complete high school within five years of starting Grade 10.

Your Future Starts Here, a province-wide consultation, included discussions with youth through a series of roundtable sessions and culminated in a provincial Symposium. Feedback will be used to help government develop a provincial strategy with community-led solutions 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 our students in school.

For more information about this initiative, e-mail hsc@edc.gov.ab.ca.

Youth roundtables
In May and June 2006, youth across Alberta shared their views on high school completion through a series of 19 roundtables in 10 communities to help government better understand the reasons why some youth leave school early, and to find new solutions. A complete list of roundtable sessions is available here.

Students at these sessions were asked for their input on what is working well now to help youth finish high school, what is not working, and what can help them and their peers stay in school.

Provincial Symposium on High School Completion
The provincial High School Completion Symposium, held September 24 and 25 in Edmonton, was the first province-wide symposium held on this issue and brought together approximately 575 youth, parents, teachers, principals, school counsellors, school trustees, and superintendents, along with representatives from business, post-secondary institutions and community organizations to gather input on how to improve high school completion rates. Two communities, High Level and Dunmore, joined in the Symposium using video-conferencing.

It was a remarkable day and a half that focused on our youth and their future, and gave young people a powerful voice in the discussions.

• Photos
• Youth Voices video Listen Up:
  • 72MB wmv file
  • 26MB wmv file
• Discussion Guide : in English or French
• Summary
• News Releases:
  • News release: Premier and Canadian music icon speaking at symposium (September 21, 2006)
  • News release: Collaborating with communities for change (June 27, 2006)
• Community Toolkit
• Other resources:
  • Removing Barriers to High School Completion Report
  • Alberta's Commission on Learning

About Alberta's high school completion rates
Alberta's completion rates have been steadily increasing to 77.4% of students completing high school within five years of starting Grade 10. 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 (AISI).

• Alberta's high school completion rates

Programs and services available to help youth stay in school: There are a wide variety of programs and services available to keep youth in school. Visit Service Alberta to find out which best meet your or your child's learning needs. There are also many examples of school jurisdictions, families and communities working together to support youth in their area.

• Alberta Education Initiatives, Projects and Reviews
• Alberta's Education Partners