The number of kids enrolled in B.C. public schools went up by 1,737 in 2018, up from 537,589 the year before.
However, that’s a smaller increase than last year, with the additional students representing a 0.3-per-cent uptick compared to a 0.8-per-cent rise in 2017.
The number of students with special needs went up by 3,020, compared to by 2,182 the year before.
READ MORE: More students, more pressure in B.C. school system
This year sees 1,299 fewer Aboriginal students than the year before, continuing the declining trend in 2017.
The number of English language learning students went up by 1,092, reversing last year’s drop of 394 students.
The number of French immersion students went up by 295. That number is less than half the jump from the year before, partially as a result of French immersion enrolment caps set by schools struggling to find teachers.
The number of students finishing school within six years of starting went up one per cent to 84 per cent, while the number of Aboriginal students getting their Dogwood diploma rose two per cent to 66 per cent.
The biggest jump was in school completion in Conseil Scolaire Francophone School Board students. In 2018, 99 per cent of them graduated on time, compared to just 90 per cent the year before.
