NLIS 3
March 20, 2003
(Education)

2002 high school graduates earn higher marks at MUN

Education Minister Gerry Reid said he is very encouraged by news from Memorial University that the overall performance of first-year students in the Fall 2002 semester is the best recorded by that institution since 1995, when achievement level tracking first began.

"The vast majority of these students graduated from the province�s K-12 system in June, 2002," the minister noted. "These are students who have had the benefit of writing high school public examinations in both Level 2 and Level 3. They have completed a strong provincial curriculum and in many cases, new curriculum. As a result, they are now entering university and performing at higher levels than their predecessors. Changes made at the high school level over the past number of years are clearly having a positive impact on our students� ability to succeed at the post-secondary level."

The university�s figures on students� academic performance for Fall 2002 indicate the semester average for all new, full-time students was 64.9 per cent, up from 63.1 per cent in 2001 and 62.1 per cent in 2000.

In addition, the proportion of these students achieving first semester averages of 80 per cent or higher grew to 10.3 per cent in 2002 from 9.1 per cent in 2001, and 8.3 per cent in 2000. The proportion of students with first semester averages above 70 per cent increased to 35.9 per cent as compared to 30 per cent in 2001, and 29.5 per cent in 2000.

The report also indicates that, on average, these students took more courses and successfully completed a greater proportion of them.

Memorial�s president, Dr. Axel Meisen, said that part of the university�s ongoing operations involves tracking the academic performance of students. "We are pleased that our most recent information indicates that the grades of our first-year students are consistently improving," Dr. Meisen said. "We are committed to continuing to improve these numbers and look forward to working with the Department of Education in achieving this objective."

"We recognize there have been some difficulties as we worked through the process of introducing and implementing new curriculum over the past several years," said Minister Reid. "We have, however, worked with our educational partners to overcome those difficulties as they arose. The improved performance of our graduates at the post-secondary level is certainly an indication that we are on the right track."

The minister was also pleased to see that only 10 per cent of students had first semester averages below 50 per cent as compared to 13.2 per cent in 2001 and 14.4 per cent in 2000.

This represents the lowest failure rate at Memorial University in the past 10 years.

"These results are very encouraging and are an endorsement of the changes implemented at the high school level over the past number of years," added Minister Reid. "It is very gratifying to hear that the hard work undertaken by teachers, school boards and the department is paying off to the benefit of our students."

Media contact: Elizabeth Matthews, Communications, (709) 729-0048, or (709) 727-3438

2003 03 20                                      10:55 a.m.