School District 72 has released the 2023/24 Aboriginal Report: How Are We Doing, which identified a need for numeracy instruction improvements. The report found that literacy scores were relatively similar between non-Indigenous and Indigenous students in the earlier grades, though literacy had dropped for Indigenous students over time. However, there was a notable gap in numeracy: The report shared that in Grade 4, 34% of SD72’s Indigenous school population was on track with numeracy, compared to 55% of non-Indigenous students; a similar divide was spotted among Grade 7 students. The district has reportedly already begun to address the need for improved numeracy by hiring dedicated staff and developing a numeracy committee, according to SD72 Superintendent Geoff Manning. “This isn’t just a Campbell River trend. This is a provincial trend,” explained Manning. “Numeracy rates across the province have nosedived, and we are really taking a hard look at this and try[ing] to address it locally.”
