Nanaimo-Ladysmith Public Schools is celebrating its highest ever graduation rates for Indigenous students: 86%. The rate exceeds the provincial Indigenous student graduation rate of 75%. The Nanaimo Bulletin reports that the district has benefitted from integrating the local Indigenous language Hul’q’umi’num’ into the curriculum. “I think when students can see themselves represented in the things that they’re learning in school, they are more engaged in the work that they’re doing,” said Nanaimo District Teachers’ Association Jo Cornthwaite. “And students, from what I’ve heard from examples on the ground, they are appreciating the fact that they have those connections to culture in terms of their language.”
Nanaimo Bulletin
