Abbotsford students show low satisfaction with education, survey finds

Abbotsford students feel school is not adequately preparing them for post-secondary education and future jobs, a recently published survey has found.

Overall satisfaction among students in Abbotsford is largely at five-year lows, according to data from a Province of B.C. survey, with elementary students showing the least satisfaction.

Twenty-seven per cent of all elementary students responded that they are satisfied with what they are learning many times or all the time in school, compared with 31 per cent of high school students.

The gap widens among Indigenous students, with 22 per cent of those in elementary reporting satisfaction with what they are learning, compared with 29 per cent of Indigenous high school students.

All four cohorts’ responses were the most negative that they have been in at least five years, according to the survey, which provides five-year ranges for the data.

students were similarly downcast in their evaluations of preparedness for life after secondary school. Forty-seven per cent of all Grade 10 students and 39 per cent of Indigenous students felt school was appropriately preparing them for post-secondary.

That anxiety deepens among Grade 12 students, with just 42 per cent of all students and 37 per cent of Indigenous students feeling they were being adequately prepared for post-secondary education.

As for job preparation, students’ evaluations were bleaker still – 36 per cent of all students and 40 per cent of Indigenous students in Grade 10 felt school was preparing them for a job in the future.

That sentiment, again, is deepened among seniors, with 26 per cent reporting that school was preparing them for a future job, including 23 per cent of Indigenous students.

Find more of our coverage on the Abbotsford School District here.