Tuesday, September 21, 2004

SPOTLIGHT: Back to school

Class act for 5 million

AN ESTIMATED 5 million public elementary and secondary students returned to school this fall in Canada, hitting the books for another academic year.

For school boards across Canada, it is another year of potentially declining enrolments and rising costs, highlighted in a new Statistics Canada report.

The report examines trends in enrolment and the number of educators for public elementary and secondary schools, as well as basic financial statistics, such as total spending on education, spending per student and spending as a percentage of the gross domestic product.

Total enrolment in public elementary and secondary schools based on full-time equivalents fell for the third consecutive year in 2002/03.

Enrolment up in only two provinces

Between 1996/97 and 2002/03, enrolment increased in only two provinces, Ontario and Alberta.

In Ontario, enrolment reached nearly 2.2 million, up 4.9% from six years earlier. In Alberta, enrolment hit nearly 539,000, a 2.4% gain.

Ontario's increase was essentially due to high levels of immigration, and in the case of Alberta, the reason was migration from other provinces.

The largest decline occurred in Newfoundland and Labrador, where enrolment fell 20.7% from six years earlier to 84,268. This was largely because of a net outflow of migration to other provinces, as well as the nation's lowest fertility rate.

Elsewhere, enrolments declined by 5% or more in the other three Atlantic provinces, Saskatchewan and the Yukon. They were also down in Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia, but at a slower pace.

$6.6b jump in spending

At the same time, spending on public elementary and secondary education rose. In 1996/97, total spending amounted to $33.0 billion nationwide. Six years later, this total hit nearly $39.6 billion, an increase of almost 20%.

The increase was just as important on a per student basis. Total spending on each student in public elementary and secondary schools rose 19.1% during the six-year period to $7,946. Provincially, investment was highest in Alberta at $8,775 for each student.

At the same time, total spending accounted for a smaller slice of the nation’s economic output. In 2002/03, it represented 3.3% of gross domestic product, down from 3.8% six years earlier.

The nation had 310,000 educators in 2001/02, virtually the same level as it did six years earlier. The term “educators” refers not only to teachers, but principals, vice-principals, and professional non-teaching staff such as guidance and religious counselors.

The report “Summary of public school indicators for the provinces and territories, 1996/97 to 2002/03” is available online.

For more information, contact François Nault (613-951-9039), Centre for Education Statistics.

Quick glance: Spending per student

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© 2004, Statistics Canada.