ROSA-RUTA 6, CON BASE EN EL CÓDIGO MUNICIPAL, LEY Nº 7794 DE 30/4/98).

It was shown earlier in the report that education was an important determinant of income, labour market outcomes and other indicators of well-being. In particular, higher educational attainment was associated with higher income, lower unemployment, higher labour market participation, lower chances of being involved in crime, and better overall health. This section examines the level of educational attainment of Aboriginal Canadians in relation to the level attained by non-Aboriginal Canadians.

i. Situation in 2001

Aboriginal individuals on average had a lower educational attainment in 2001 than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. Slightly over half (52.2 per cent) of Aboriginal Canadians had completed high school, compared to 69.1 per cent of non-Aboriginal Canadians (Table 3).

The high school completion rate of individuals aged 25 to 34 years old is a good indicator of future completion rates as it reflects the educational attainment of the youngest 10-year cohort that can be expected to have completed high school. In 2001, 65.6 per cent of the Aboriginal population in this age group had completed high school compared to 44.0 per cent for the 55-64 age group, High school completion is thus higher for younger age cohorts (Chart 7a).

Table 3: Proportion of the Population by Educational Attainment and Aboriginal Identity, 1996 and 2001

Aboriginals Non-Aboriginals Gap Aboriginals Non-Aboriginals Gap

Less than Grade 9 20.2 11.8 8.4 15.0 9.7 5.3

Grade 9 to 13, Without Certificate 33.6 22.4 11.1 32.9 21.2 11.7 Grade 9 to 13, With Certificate 8.5 14.5 -6.0 9.5 14.2 -4.8

Trades Certificate or Diploma 3.8 3.7 0.1 3.9 3.5 0.4

College: Without Certificate 6.4 6.3 0.2 8.8 6.4 2.4

College: With Certificate 14.9 17.9 -2.9 16.8 18.8 -2.1 University: Without Certificate 2.7 3.3 -0.6 4.3 4.4 -0.1 University: With Certificate 7.8 20.0 -12.1 8.9 21.8 -12.8 Less than High School Graduation 53.8 34.3 19.5 47.8 30.9 16.9 High School Graduation or Greater 44.1 65.6 -21.4 52.2 69.1 -16.9 High School Graduates Continuing to

Post-Secondary Education 80.8 77.9 2.9 81.9 79.4 2.5

High School Graduates Completing

Post-Secondary Education 60.1 63.3 -3.2 56.8 63.8 -7.0

College Drop-Out Rate 30.1 26.0 4.2 34.3 25.3 8.9

University Drop-Out Rate 25.6 14.2 11.4 32.7 16.8 15.8 Source: Census Public Use Microdata Files, 1996 and 2001

1996 2001

In both 2001 and 1996, a slightly larger proportion of Aboriginal high school graduates than non-Aboriginal high school graduates continued on to post-secondary education. In 2001, 81.9 per cent of Aboriginal high school graduates had some form of post-secondary education, compared to only 79.4 per cent for non-Aboriginal Canadians (Table 3). This is consistent with Mendelson‘s (2006) finding that Aboriginal high school graduates are just as likely as non- Aboriginal graduates to continue to post-secondary education.

65.6 63.6 59.9 44.0 20.6 52.2 85.5 80.8 77.1 62.5 42.7 69.1 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65+ Total P er C en t

Chart 7a: Proportion of the Population who Completed High School, by Age Group, 2001

Aboriginal Population Non-Aboriginal Population

The picture is not as upbeat for Aboriginal Canadians if we consider only the proportion of those who actually obtained a post-secondary certificate or diploma. In 2001, the proportion of Aboriginal high school graduates who successfully completed further studies (56.8 per cent) was seven percentage points lower than for non-Aboriginal Canadians (63.8 per cent). For college, the drop-out rate of Aboriginal was 34.3 per cent in 2001 compared to only 25.3 per cent for non-Aboriginal Canadians, a 8.9 percentage points difference. At the university level, the difference was even larger (15.8 percentage points), with a 32.7 per cent drop-out rate for

Aboriginal Canadians compared to only 16.8 per cent for the non-Aboriginal population in 2001. In 2001, 8.9 per cent of Aboriginal Canadians aged 15 and over had obtained a university degree, 16.8 per cent a college certification or diploma and 3.9 per cent a trade certificate. Trades seem to be quite attractive to Aboriginal Canadians compared to their non-Aboriginal

counterparts, since only 3.5 per cent of non-Aboriginals had that type of education. However, much more non-Aboriginal Canadians had other types of post-secondary education: 21.8 per cent graduated from university and 18.8 per cent from college. There were 9.5 per cent of Aboriginal Canadians with high school diploma as their highest level of educational attainment compared to 14.2 per cent of non-Aboriginal Canadians.

12.08 11.69 11.34 9.38 7.19 11.09 14.19 13.57 13.12 11.82 10.14 12.68 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65+ Total Y e a r s

Chart 7b: Average Number of Years of Schooling, by Age Group, 2001

Aboriginal Population Non-Aboriginal Population Gap in educational attainment

Source: Census 2001

Many Aboriginal Canadians enrol in post-secondary institutions, but do not finish their course of studies. Even though 13.2 per cent of the Aboriginal population went to university, only around two thirds of them graduated (8.9 per cent of the Aboriginal population). Hence, 4.3 per cent of the Aboriginal population did not graduate after beginning their university education. For the non-Aboriginal population, the proportion of the population not finishing university was

similar, at 4.4 per cent. However it represents a much smaller share of the population who went to university (21.8 per cent).

The average number of years of schooling13 among the Aboriginal population in 2001 was 11.09 years, whereas it was 12.68 years for the non-Aboriginal population, a gap of 14.3 per cent. Younger age groups are more likely to have more years of education.14 Using a cross- section decomposed by age, we can roughly observe the evolution in the average number of years of schooling through time. For example, 30 years ago, in 1971, the current 55 to 64 group was aged between 25 and 34 years. Thus, we can compare how educational attainment evolved since 1971 using the groups aged 55-64 group (1971), 45-54 (1981), 35-44 (1991) and the 2001 group aged 25-34. As Chart 7a and 7b illustrate, the trend in the proportion of Aboriginal Canadians who completed high school and the average years of schooling of the Aboriginal population are both clearly increasing through time. For example, only 44.0 per cent of the 1971 Aboriginal cohort had completed high school compared to 65.6 per cent for the 2001 cohort (Chart 7a). Similarly, while the 1971 cohort had only an average of 9.38 years of schooling, the 2001 cohort had an average of 12.06 years. Both indicators, however, show a slower progression for later cohorts than for earlier cohorts. For example, the 1981 Aboriginal cohort had on

average 1.96 more years of schooling than the 1971 Aboriginal cohort whereas the 2001 Aboriginal cohort experienced an increase of only 0.39 years over the 1991 cohort.

2.04 1.83 1.75 2.40 2.91 1.55 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65+ Total

Chart 8: The Gap in Educational Attainment Between the Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Populations by Age Group, 2001

Years

The gap refers to the difference between the average number of years of education that Non-Aboriginals attain compared to the corresponding Census 2001

13 _{This was calculated from the Census 2001 Public Use Micro-data Files. Some respondent provided a direct} number of years of schooling (e.g. ―11 years‖), but when the response was in a range of years (e.g. ―Between 0 and 5 years‖), the mid-point in the category was used as the value (in the last example, 2.5 years).

14 _{Note that the 15 to 24 group is not presented because it includes many young people who have not yet completed} their education.

Both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population experienced significant increases in their level of educational attainment since 1971. The Aboriginal population, however, has been unable to close the gap with the non-Aboriginal population in the average number of years of schooling. Comparing the 45-54 Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cohorts, we can infer that non-Aboriginal Canadians of the same age had on average 2.40 more years of schooling than Aboriginal Canadians in 1971. This gap decreased to 1.75 years in 1981, but has increased since then, reaching 2.04 years for the 2001 cohort. In other words, despite constant increases in their level of educational attainment, Aboriginal Canadians‘ level of educational attainment has not been growing fast enough to close the gap with non-Aboriginal Canadians.

ii. Change in the 1996 to 2001 period

High school completion rates increased for Aboriginal communities between 1996 and 2001. Moreover, the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations in terms of non- completion of high school is closing. In 1996, 44.1 per cent of the Aboriginal population and 65.6 per cent of the non-Aboriginal population completed high school, a gap of 21.4 percentage points (Table 3). In 2001, the figures were 52.2 per cent for Aboriginal Canadians and 69.1 per cent for non-Aboriginal Canadians, a 16.9 percentage points gap. In other words, the gap was 4.5 percentage points lower in 2001 than in 1996. At this rate, the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations in terms of completion of high school would be only 3.4 percentage points in 2016.

Focusing on the 25 to 34 years cohort, 54.3 per cent of the Aboriginal population had completed high school in 1996, compared to 82.2 per cent of the non-Aboriginal population (Appendix Table 4). By 2001, 65.6 per cent of Aboriginal Canadians aged 25-34 had completed high school compared to 85.5 per cent for non-Aboriginal Canadians (Appendix Table 3). Thus, while the Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal gap in the percentage of the population completing high school was 27.9 percentage points in 1996, it decreased to only 19.9 percentage points in 2001, an eight point reduction.

In 1996, 8.5 per cent of Aboriginal Canadians had at most a high school diploma, one percentage point lower than in 2001. Post-secondary education is also on the rise among Aboriginal Canadians. In 1996, 21.4 per cent of them had frequented college (including those who did not graduate), and this figure increased to 25.5 per cent five years later (Table 3). There was a similar increase in university education; 10.5 per cent of Aboriginals had been to

university in 1996, which increased to 13.3 per cent five years later.

The main difference between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations was their respective drop-out rates: Aboriginal college and university drop-out rates increased from 30.1 and 25.6 per cent in 1996 to 34.3 and 32.7 respectively in 2001. Non-Aboriginal Canadians, on the other hand, experienced a slight decrease in their college drop-out rate (from 26.0 per cent in 1996 to 25.3 per cent in 2001) and only a marginal increase in their university drop-out rate (from 14.2 per cent in 1996 to 16.8 per cent in 2001).

iii. On-Reserve/Off-reserve Aboriginal Educational Attainment

Not all subsets of the aboriginal population face the same realities. In fact, major differences exist between those living in rural areas and those living in more urban settings. In effect, one of the variables most strongly related to the educational attainment of Aboriginal Canadians is their reserve status. The report titled ―Encouraging Success: Ensuring Aboriginal

Youth Stay in School‖ reviews much of the data comparing outcomes for aboriginals on and off

reserves (Brunnen, 2005b). The author finds that an individual‘s area of residence has the largest influence on educational attainment.

Table 4: Educational Attainment of Aboriginal Canadians On- and Off-Reserve in the Western Provinces 1996, 2001

Off-reserve residents have consistently higher educational outcomes than on-reserve residents (Table 4). On-reserve residents are twice as likely to have left school before grade nine than Aboriginal Canadians residing off-reserve. Moreover, in both 1996 and 2001 there was a larger proportion of off-reserve Aboriginal in every category of educational attainment beyond high school graduation. Finally, between 1996 and 2001, an additional 8.8 percentage points of off-reserve Aboriginal Canadians had a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree compared to a 4.8 percentage point increase for on-reserve Aboriginal Canadians. This suggests that not only is educational attainment much higher for Aboriginal Canadians living off-reserve, but the off-reserve Aboriginal population also appears to be progressing faster than its on-reserve counterpart.