Quebec’s auditor general says the province’s Education Department has done little in the past two decades to help Indigenous students in Quebec, whose graduation rates lag behind those of Indigenous students in other provinces.
In her report published Wednesday, Guylaine Leclerc said the Quebec government knew about a major gap in success rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students since at least 2005, but failed to provide the necessary funding and planning to narrow that divide.
“Nearly 20 years after noting a success gap among Indigenous students, the Education Department is still taking little action to promote their success,” the report said.
It references 2021 data from Statistics Canada that says the proportion of Quebec’s Indigenous population between 25 and 34 years old without degrees or certificates was 31.4 per cent — two-thirds higher than the province’s non-Indigenous population at 9.3 per cent.
Quebec’s Indigenous graduation rates also lag behind nationally. The …