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E d u c a t i o n IN CANADA 1995 [Home Page | Chair's Message | Accessibility | Quality | Relevance | Where Do We Go From Here?]Message from the Chair
We are well aware of the challenges to the education systems posed by our rapidly changing world: globalization of the economy, openness with regard to other cultures, pressing needs for skilled labour, and technological advances that are having an impact on our daily lives as well as the job market. These changes require constant adjustments to our educational practices to ensure high quality, accessibility, mobility, and accountability.Taken from Joint Declaration: Future Directions for The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), September 1993 How well are Canadian elementary and secondary schools, colleges/ technical institutes, and universities preparing students for life, work, and the challenges of the future? To begin to answer this important question, which is being asked across the country, the ministers of education of all provinces and territories prepared this first joint report on education in Canada. Reports such as this will be published on a periodic basis, and each one will deal with different aspects of education in Canada. This report is designed to provide the best available information on how well our education systems are doing. It is organized under three themes: accessibility, quality, and relevance. Around the world, people are wrestling with a variety of approaches to make education and training both influence and fit the times in which we live. Our provincial and territorial education systems are developing and implementing ways to meet the challenge of making education more relevant to the demands of the 21st century. I invite you to contact your local school, college, or university to find out more about these interesting and often innovative activities. The ministers of education hope that this report is a useful beginning, and we look forward to finding out what you think about the information presented.
Gordon MacInnis, Chair of CMEC
Education and training in Canada today:
Canadians commit significant resources
to education and training. The following statistics give some
idea of the scale of the education
enterprise.
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Highest level attained | 1976 | 1991 |
High school diploma | 18% | 21% |
Some college or university | 8% | 7% |
College diploma/certificate | 11% | 24% |
University degree | 8% | 13% |
Source: Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada, Revised estimates, 1995
How do these statistics compare to the education levels attained in other western nations? As shown in Table 2, the percentage of individuals age 25 to 64 who have received some education at a college/ technical institute or university was higher in Canada than in a number of other OECD countries, including the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and France.
COUNTRY | PERCENTAGE |
Canada | 41% |
United States | 31% |
Sweden | 24% |
Australia | 23% |
Germany | 22% |
United Kingdom | 19% |
France | 16% |
Source: Education at a Glance 3, OECD, 1995
Gender equity. For decades, fewer women than men attended and hence, graduated from, Canadian universities. Moreover, women generally tended to enrol in courses such as nursing or teaching. This situation has changed over time. Today, a larger percentage of women than men are enrolled in university programs. In fact, 27 per cent of women age 18 to 21 are enrolled either part-time or full-time in university, while 21 per cent of men of the same age group attend university either part-time or full-time. In this regard, Canada is second only to the United States among OECD countries. (Source: Education at a Glance 3, OECD, April 1995)
However, despite the fact that more women are enrolled in postsecondary programs, participation by women remains low in certain fields of study. While the imbalance is not quite as marked as it once was in engineering, mathematics, and science faculties, the career choices that women make still seem to be confined to the social sciences, humanities, education, and health (see Table 3). The statistics also show a new trend: since 1971, the proportion of males enrolled in areas that were traditionally under-represented by men has continued to drop. There is now a larger imbalance, in favour of women, in the areas mentioned above.
Discipline | 1971 | 1991 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Men | Women | Men | Women | |
Education | 49% | 51% | 31% | 69% |
Humanities | 55% | 45% | 37% | 63% |
Social sciences | 75% | 25% | 45% | 55% |
Engineering | 99% | 1% | 85% | 15% |
Health | 45% | 55% | 29% | 71% |
Mathematics and sciences | 84% | 16% | 71% | 29% |
Source: Statistics Canada, 1993
Adult learning. High schools, colleges/technical institutes, and universities have encouraged the return of older students, and the demand for adult-oriented education is growing rapidly. This trend is changing the face of our educational institutions.
The total number of persons 25 years of age and older who are enrolled either full- or part-time in public education has more than doubled in the past two decades: they now total more than 700 000 persons or approximately 4 per cent of the adult population. About 12 per cent of the adult population has also been pursuing education and training in the private sector, mostly through courses offered directly by employers. This reflects the need for continuing education and training of all kinds. It also represents an enormous challenge -- how to ensure that institutions offer the kinds of options that adults are demanding.
Aboriginal peoples. The data in Table 4 compare the highest level of education attained in 1991 by all adult Canadians with the highest level attained by adults who identified themselves as Aboriginals. The data show that more than half of the Aboriginal adult population does not complete high school. Also, Aboriginal people who do pursue a postsecondary education tend to choose a college/ technical institute over university.
Highest level attained | All Canadians | Adult Aboriginal Canadians |
Less than high school diploma | 35% | 56% |
High school diploma | 21% | 12% |
Some college or university | 7% | 13% |
College diploma/certificate | 24% | 16% |
University degree | 13% | 3% |
Source: Aboriginal Peoples Post-Censal Survey, Statistics Canada, 1992 and Labour force Survey,
Statistics Canada, Revised estimates, 1995
The provinces and territories have undertaken to reduce linguistic, cultural, and economic barriers to postsecondary education and have made significant efforts to increase access to education at all levels for women, Aboriginal peoples, adults, minority-language students, immigrants, and students with special needs. For example, the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College is Canada's only First Nations-controlled university. Memorial University in Newfoundland has recently introduced a full-scale teacher training program for Aboriginal peoples in the province.
Unfortunately, some students are unable to go on to a college/technical institute or university, even though they have the qualifications. In some provinces, space is limited, especially at the college/technical institute level. Also, the reductions in federal funding for postsecondary education have an impact on the systems. Despite student aid programs, an increased debt load will deter some people from pursuing an education at the postsecondary level.
New delivery models. Because of high costs, lack of available spaces, and geographic constraints, it is no longer possible for all candidates to find places in our colleges/technical institutes and universities. One response must be to rethink the way programs are delivered. Nova Scotia's degree-granting institutions are currently working on a restructuring process to ensure greater quality and accessibility and increased program choices, while new programming at the community college level will mean enhanced accessibility to training.
More people, especially at the postsecondary level, want to be able to access the education programs and services they need where and when it is convenient for them. This includes working adults as well as students who live long distances from colleges/technical institutes or universities. There is great potential for revolutionizing accessibility through the use of new technologies in distance education and open learning programs. For example, in Alberta, an additional 10 000 student places are being funded through a new access fund that emphasizes programs designed to deliver high-quality education opportunities in innovative ways.
Training. A challenge for the training sector is to ensure that students who do not go on to university or to a college/technical institute acquire the skills necessary to pursue their career interests and gain employment. The latest technologies must be made available through programs that are engaging, of high quality, and relevant to the world our students will soon enter. To address this issue, the British Columbia government has invested $200 million in Skills Now!, a forward-looking skills training plan to ensure that students, workers, and the unemployed acquire new skills needed in the changing job market.
Credit transfers. Students moving between institutions or provinces often cannot transfer the credits they have already acquired. CMEC and Canadian universities and colleges/technical institutes are working together to solve this problem. By the end of 1996, learners should be able to move between similar undergraduate programs (and equivalent cégep programs) at universities anywhere in Canada. This initiative will eventually be extended to colleges/technical institutes. Already, a number of Canadian universities have agreed that credits can be transferred for the first two years of university undergraduate study (and, in Quebec, relevant cégep credits).
The problem of credit recognition also affects people from foreign countries who wish to come to Canada to study or to live. An information and referral service -- the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials -- has been established by CMEC to help people find out how and where credentials acquired outside Canada can be assessed.
Access to education in the official languages.
The federal government helps to fund provincial and territorial initiatives geared to increasing opportunities for French and English minority communities to be educated in their own language, and for all Canadians to learn English or French as a second language. The CMEC Secretariat has the mandate to coordinate agreements between the federal and provincial or territorial governments.
The issue of access to education is only part of the picture -- we know how many people are entering and passing through the systems. But we also need information that allows us to compare the performance of students across the country.
Literacy level | Percentage |
Can easily read most texts | 62% |
Can read simple and clearly laid out texts | 22% |
Can read very simple texts with familiar words | 9% |
Have difficulty reading | 7% |
Source: Survey of Literacy Skills Used in Daily Activities, Statistics Canada, 1989
A Statistics Canada survey shows that 84 per cent of Canadians age 16 to 69 are able to read well enough to get by on a day-to-day basis. In general, 62 per cent of Canadians can easily read most texts. This number increases to 70 per cent for Canada's 16- to 24-year-olds.
Students. In 1994, a test of reading and writing was given to a random sample of 13- and 16-year-old students from all provinces and territories except Saskatchewan, which chose to concentrate on its own assessment and indicators program. This test was part of CMEC's School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP).
In simple terms, the results on the reading and writing assessments can be described as follows:
In general, students scored better in mathematics knowledge and skills than in mathematics problemsolving. Overall, boys did slightly better on the mathematics assessment than girls.
About 60 per cent of 16-year-olds demonstrated competency in mathematics knowledge and skills by:
On the test of mathematics knowledge and skills, the results for the 16-year-olds tested were statistically similar for most jurisdictions except for Quebec francophone students, who performed better than the Canada-wide average, and for the students in Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories, and Newfoundland, whose performance was lower than the Canada-wide results.
In mathematics problem-solving, the results for the 16-year-olds tested showed that only 24 per cent of 16-year-olds were able to solve mathematics problems (as in the sample question) by:
A sample problem-solving question and the solution provided by 24 per cent of 16-year-olds tested
A total of 1500 people attended a wedding party. The area used for the wedding party was
divided into a dance floor and an eating area, as shown in the diagram below.
A. At 7:00 p.m., there were 375 people on the dance floor. How many people were in the eating area?
B. Every half hour, one-fifth of the people on the dance floor move to the eating areas and two-fifths of the people in the eating area move to the dance floor. How many people were in each area after the 7:30 p.m. move?
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Once again, the results were statistically similar for most jurisdictions except for francophone students in Ontario and New Brunswick, whose performance was lower than the Canada-wide results.
The 1991 International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP) assessed the mathematics abilities of 13-year-olds in 20 countries. The results showed Canadian students performing at about the average for all participating countries, with many students -- as well as some provinces -- performing above the average.
In the science component of the 1991 International Assessment of Educational Progress, 13-year-old Canadians performed as well as in the mathematics component. Canada ranked a little above the average of the 20 participating countries.
One accepted way of measuring the graduation rate is to compare the total number of graduates in a particular year with the total number of students who were of graduation age in that year.
According to OECD figures, in 1992, there were 68 high school graduates for every 100 people of graduation age in Canada's population. This compares with 75 graduates for every 100 persons of graduation age for the United States. However, these statistics do not include people who left school before graduating but returned to obtain a diploma at a later time, and they do not take into consideration the graduation requirements of each country.
Profiles prepared by Statistics Canada in 1993 show that graduation rates have substantially increased at the postsecondary level.
The number of diplomas and certificates granted by colleges/technical institutes almost doubled between 1971 and 1991, from 43 336 to 83 180.
Between 1981 and 1991, the number of university degrees granted increased by 36 per cent, with the biggest increase being in the fields of social sciences and humanities.
Assessment. It is recognized that there is far more to determining the quality of education than can be conveyed by test results. However, it is important to continue to work toward more effective assessment of students' performance in all of the areas mentioned.
Provinces and territories are working together to expand the range of subjects on which students are tested, as well as to improve the methods used to assess results. Some jurisdictions have been using SAIP to complement their own province-wide tests, assessing other age groups in the same three areas of mathematics, reading and writing, and science, or choosing other areas to test.
In New Brunswick, an English-language proficiency assessment for anglophone students has been introduced and serves as an early warning to provide additional help to grade 8 students functioning below the desired level of competence in reading, writing, and listening. A province-wide test of grade 9 students in reading and writing is administered in Ontario to provide information to parents, students, and teachers about individual student achievement and to obtain information upon which to base planning for program review and improvement. Alberta expanded its assessment program in 1995, administering tests annually to all students in grades 3, 6, and 9.
The evidence from the SAIP results is that a majority of students demonstrate remarkably good grammar, vocabulary, and writing skills and have mastered the basics of mathematics knowledge and skills. However, it is also evident that they are weak at using these skills to understand a reading passage or to solve a mathematics problem. When CMEC does the next mathematics assessment in 1997 and the reading and writing assessment in 1998, we will look to see how the results compare with those presented in this report.
Canada will continue to participate in tests involving other countries, such as the recently conducted Third International Mathematics and Science Study (1995). The information from all of these tests is being used, along with data obtained from other sources, to determine whether and how programs and teaching strategies should be changed and improved.
Curriculum. All provinces and territories are reviewing their programs and revising their school curricula. Most provinces and territories are working together to share their best programs and practices, and to develop programs that are suited to the needs of students at all levels. For example, the Atlantic provinces are developing a common core curriculum in language arts, mathematics, and sciences.
In the Northwest Territories, the only jurisdiction in which Aboriginal peoples are in the majority, two special language and culture curricula -- Dene Kede, taught in the Western Arctic, and Inuuqatigiit, taught in schools in Nunavut -- have been developed to ensure that the Aboriginal perspective is an integral part of the school system.
Across the country, links to the workplace are leading to programs that offer students experiences and choices related to career possibilities. New approaches are being prepared to help teachers effectively introduce new curriculum. Each of these initiatives includes a major emphasis on the use of technology by both teachers and students.
It is vitally important that the education systems in Canada be accessible, of high quality, and relevant to people's lives. What do students think about their school experiences? Will they be able to judge the choices and opportunities that become available to them? How can education help students become good citizens who will contribute to society's well-being? Is education important for future job prospects and income? In short, does education and training matter?
At the postsecondary level, most university graduates looked back on their choices with satisfaction. Another 1993 survey, also conducted by Statistics Canada, indicated that 70 per cent of those who earned bachelor's degrees -- of arts, commerce, and science -- would select the same field of study if they were again choosing among educational programs. And this feeling of satisfaction increases with time: a National Graduates Survey showed university graduates felt more satisfied with their education five years after leaving than they did two years after leaving.
Level of attainment | 25-64-year-olds | 25-34-year-olds |
Less than high school | 14% | 22% |
High school diploma | 10% | 12% |
College diploma | 8% | 10% |
University degree | 5% | 7% |
Source: Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada, 1992
Partnerships. Employers are asking that students be better prepared to enter the work force. To accommodate this demand, education authorities in all provinces and territories are trying to learn from each other, from the public, and from other partners, and are using the best of others' successful experiences to forge new approaches to education reform. In Prince Edward Island, for example, Island Tel, PEINet, and the Department of Education have joined forces to design suitable technologies and practical ways to offer the Internet to the province's schools. In the same vein, in April 1995, the Quebec government launched the Estates General on Education, a major consultation on education and training that will provide both an in-depth study of the province's education system and an opportunity to reach public consensus on education goals.
Lifelong learning. This is a reality for which people must be prepared far more thoroughly than they are now. The transition between school and work must be made smoother by familiarizing students with career and course choices, and by expanding work experience programs at the secondary and postsecondary levels. For example, to meet the immediate need of industries for skilled workers, Saskatchewan funds JobStart and Future Skills, publicly recognized training programs for youth, the unemployed, and social assistance recipients.
As well, the school systems must adapt to the rapidly growing demand for adult-oriented education and training programs. For example, in 1994, Manitoba announced a major distance education thrust that uses various technologies and emphasizes the creation of community-based infrastructures for lifelong learning.
Better information. One important component of CMEC's agenda is the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program, which is designed to provide information about the strengths and weaknesses of some of the important areas of Canada's education systems, such as equitable access to school systems, timely and efficient completion of education programs, successful transitions between school and work environments, academic achievement, development of effective citizenship, and overall satisfaction with the education systems. Better information will be collected over the next few years and a clearer and more comprehensive picture should then emerge.
In subsequent reports, CMEC will provide information about other aspects of our education systems, and about what each province and territory is doing to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills needed for success in an ever-changing world.
The ministers of education hope that this report will encourage the public to get involved in education, whether at the institutional, community, district, or board level.
CMEC would welcome your comments on this document, as well as your suggestions for what should be covered in future reports. Please write to:
CMEC Secretariat
Report on Education in Canada
252 Bloor Street West
Suite 5-200
Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1V5
We believe that the future of our society depends on informed and educated citizens who, while fulfilling their own goals of personal and professional development, contribute to the social, economic, and cultural development of their community and of the country as a whole.Taken from Joint Declaration: Future Directions for The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), September 1993.
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