Comment:

Between 1971 and 1976, in the 15 - 19 year group, there was a considerable increase in the absolute numbers of persons, both male and female but a decline in the number attending school full-time. This decline could be the result of several factors, some of which are:

• more persons may be completing their secondary schooling at an earlier age and then not going on to post-secondary education.
• the drop-out rate may have increased.
• more may be attending school part-time and are, therefore, counted as being out-of-school.
• this survey was done on June 1st, 1976, at the end of the school year and some may have reported themselves as out-of-school, when if fact they were planning to return to school in the fall.
• some may have not been properly enumerated.

These figures do not agree with the data reported from other sources. For example, another Statistics Canada publication indicates the following comparisons: ¹

In this set of figures, the population data was estimated and does not agree with those provided by the 1976 Census figures. However, the changes are in the same directions: down for both sexes in the 15 - 19 year group; up for women 20 years and over; down for men 20 - 24 years.

^1. Z. Zsigmond and others, Out of school -- Into the labour force. Trends and projections for enrolment, school leavars, and the labour force in Canada- the 1960s through the 1980s. (Ottawa: Statistics Canada; Education, Science and Culture Division; Projections Section, 1978.) Catalogue 81-570E Occasional.