Enrolment at an alternative learning school in British Columbia increased fivefold from 2007 to 2013, according to an analysis of data published by the B.C. Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.
The population of the South Island Distance Education School in Victoria grew from about 600 to 3000 students in six years, due to an increase in the number of learners using part-time distance classes to complete their high school education.
The Vancouver Island public school experienced a sharp spike in its population of part-time grade 10 to 12 students and adult learners specifically, said Karen Flello, the school’s vice-principal.
Flello said this trend is the result of two changes in provincial education policy in 2006 and 2008, respectively. In 2006, the government allowed grade 10, 11 and 12 students to register at more than one school.
This gave senior students the option to use distance learning as a way of meeting the required credits for graduation and shaping their high school education the way they want to, said Laura Barker, treasurer for South Island’s parent advisory council.
Many students register for a distance course if their local school doesn’t offer it, if they have timetable conflicts, or if they want to take an extra class on top of a full course load.
In 2008, the government also expanded access to free basic adult education courses in public elementary and secondary schools to all B.C. residents.
According to Flello, who is also president of the B.C. Distributed Learning Administrators’ Association, her school immediately felt the impact of these two policy changes.
“We all of a sudden had an enormous jump in head count,” Flello said. “I mean, we skyrocketed. We took right off.”
As of now, grade 10, 11 and 12 students account for about half of the school’s population and adult learners account for about 25 to 30 per cent, according to Flello.
South Island had to make several changes to accommodate its growing numbers. Flello said the school hired more than 20 new teachers between 2007 and 2013, and also prioritized improving course efficiency.
“We’re still very paper-based and correspondence-heavy, so we’ve found ways to make courses a bit more elegant,” Flello said. “We write a lot of our own online courses, and we do them with the view in mind of making them streamline for students and teachers.”
Barker said the school is also significantly improving its variety of sessional one-on-one programs.
“They are offering more programs where kids go in, depending upon the age group, and have lessons with the teachers and they focus on either science or art or music,” said Barker, whose three children are registered at the school.
Listen to Flello talk about more of the school’s new services here:
Simultaneous increases in the school’s budget helped offset growing expenditures. The 2006 policy change also allowed distance schools to claim $731 from the provincial government per student registered in a course.
But South Island’s gains meant losses for other distance schools in the province, who saw their enrolment rise and subsequently drop between 2007 and 2013. Flello said her school was also attracting students from multiple districts across the province.
“It’s like gravity… the bigger schools have had greater drawing power,” Flello said. “We’ve also had a greater commitment to expanding program offerings and to expanding the online part.”
Flello said her school expects enrolment numbers to plateau now that the shock of the cross-enrolment policy has worn off. However, she said the school still has an incentive to keep numbers up.
“If we don’t have a large enrolment class it’s pretty hard to say we’re going to close it when neighbourhood schools are closing it all over the place,” Flello said. “We’ve become sort of a last resort.”
Source: The B.C. Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
Analysis by Beatrice Britneff