Inclusiveness essential to improve Indigenous graduation rates, says educator

More inclusiveness and supports are needed for Indigenous students in the Northwest Territories if educators want to see higher graduation figures.

That's South Slave District Education Authority superintendent Souhail Soujah's perspective on numbers released Aug. 5 by the NWT Bureau of Statistics, which found just 56.2 per cent of NWT Indigenous residents over age 15 have a high school diploma.

"Although the trend is positive, the graduation rates for Indigenous students are barely above 50 per cent — while non-Indigenous graduates are soaring at 92 per cent," said Soujah. "This is problematic."

Of the 33 communities in the NWT, there are only four where 75 per cent of the population has at least a high school diploma. Those are Fort Smith, Hay River, Norman Wells and Yellowknife. Inuv