Education in Winnipeg’s Inner City
I have been attending school in one form or another for my entire life. I went through elementary and high school and then directly into university where I have been ever since. Growing up in rural Manitoba it was assumed by most that once you graduated from high school, you moved to the city to attend either college or university. Perhaps I have taken my opportunities for granted. When I was a young student I believed that everyone had the same opportunities and options when it came to education, but time and experience has shown me otherwise.
Because I grew up in rural Manitoba, and then moved into the southern end of Winnipeg, I have not had much experience with the inner city and those who live there. Through my university education, and one of my classes “Inner City Environments” which deals with the inner city specifically, I have begun to get a glimpse in the issues that occur within this environment. Education within the inner city of Winnipeg has a very high drop-out rate compared to the rest of the city. According to the Winnipeg 2001 census 12.4% of the inner city population has less than a grade nine education, and 23.6% have received an education between the grades of nine to twelve, but do not have a high school graduation certificate.
The majority of those who live in Winnipeg’s inner city are aboriginal. According to a study done by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Manitoba has a large Aboriginal population, and it is increasing. In fact the aboriginal population is growing more rapidly than the non-Aboriginal portion of Manitoba’s population.
The majority of the aboriginal population in Winnipeg is concentrated in the inner city, which falls into Winnipeg School Division Number One which educates 60% of Winnipeg’s aboriginal population. And although the school division serves over half of the city’s aboriginal population, many of them are not graduating, and the question remains why?
Many of the aboriginals who live in the inner city live in poverty and come from broken families. Difficulties in family life make it extremely hard for children to attend school. This is probably due to the fact that children of these families are forced to drop out in order to help provide for their family. This disregard for education can become misplaced in the family’s value system promoting a cycle of low education and low income employment.
So the question remains; how do we break this cycle? Well history shows us that this cycle has been broken many times during the urbanization period. Today, it can be said that students are “expected” to graduate. However, if we look back only 30 years, we will see a great drop in the number of graduates. When I look at my parents’ families, only a minority has graduated from high school. The need for education wasn’t as great and children went to school until they were old enough to help with the family. This cycle seemed to last a little longer in rural than urban areas but the point remains: today, children are taught about the importance of education and the impact it will have on their future. Unfortunately it appears that many families in the inner city have not broken out of this ugly cycle.
I do not have the answers as to how this cycle can be broken but a change does need to be made in regards to the format and importance of education within the inner city. I personally believe that education is the door to a successful future, and everyone should be given the same opportunity to achieve their success, no matter where you live.

Sources
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
http://ius.uwinnihttp://winnipeg.ca/census/2001/peg.ca/pdf/aboriginal-education.pdf

Silver, J., Malkett, K., Greene, J., Simard, F. (2002). Aboriginal Education in Winnipeg Inner City High Schools. Received February 16, 2008 from: http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/16/98.pdf

Winnipeg 2001 Census
http://winnipeg.ca/census/2001/