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Just about everyone agrees we need to raise educational performance in New Brunswick.
A recent report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that New Brunswick adults had the second worst literacy and numeracy scores among the 10 provinces in Canada. New Brunswick's performance was also well below the OECD average for people between the ages of 16 and 65 within 22 highly developed countries. This has long-term implications for our competitiveness and prosperity as a province.
Researchers that study educational performance say that as early as Grade 2 we can tell which students will perform well and which will struggle throughout their formal education. It follows that if we truly want to transform our educational system we need to aggressively intervene with every "at-risk" student early on before they permanently fall through the cracks.
One of my favourite initiatives targeting these at-risk children is Sistema New Brunswick. Modelled on the El Sistema program founded in Venezuela, Sistema NB now reaches over 500 children across the province. Sistema is a free daily after-school program that uses music as a means to create social change. The program operates in Moncton, Saint John, Richibucto and the Tobique First Nation. The organization has plans to expand into other communities across the province.
Sistema is teaching these kids the value of hard work, dedication and teamwork. I had the opportunity to hear them play earlier this week and it was truly impressive. At the end of the performance, as they received a standing ovation from the audience, you could see the self-confidence and sense of accomplishment in their faces. Ken McLeod, the founder of Sistema NB, tells me the program is having a significant impact on the students and on their families. In a recent survey, 84 per cent of parents feel more positive about their child's future as a result of participation in the program.
After one year in the Sistema program, student absenteeism declined by 28 per cent. After four years in the program, absenteeism plummeted by 62 per cent.
It is also affecting the parents. Over half of the parents said they "feel an increased sense of belonging to the community"as a result of their children's involvement in Sistema.
The students and parents are far more engaged in their school, education and community. If the program is successful in the longer term, the children going through the Sistema program will change the trajectory of their lives for the better. Sistema NB is also an excellent example of an innovative partnership model. The program uses existing educational infrastructure and draws on the excellent music teaching talent in the local community.
In addition, Sistema NB has benefited from substantial private sector funding. Over 70 companies and individuals have invested in the program, leveraging the significant funding provided by the provincial government.
McLeod tells me the Sistema NB model is being picked up across Canada and beyond. New Brunswick was the first province to roll out the program, but there are now 12 centres across Canada. South Korea is sending a delegation here to evaluate the potential of the program in that country.
There are over 100,000 primary and secondary school students across New Brunswick. If we really want to transform our educational performance, we will need to develop innovative solutions that tackle specific challenges and demonstrate clear results.
Sistema NB is one such innovative solution.
Students in a Sistema cello class in Saint John. PHOTO: KâTé BRAYDON/TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL FILE
By the way, the benefits of Sistema NB go beyond traditional educational outcomes.
The author Malcolm Gladwell has developed what he calls his '10,000 hours' rule. He studied elite athletes, musicians and other occupations and found that the cream of the crop had put in at least 10,000 hours' worth of study and practice in their discipline.
A child entering the Sistema program at a young age and continues to intensively study their music through university will have racked up the 10,000 hours by the time they are in their early 20s.
In other words, Sistema NB is incubating a crop of highly talented musicians who will have a talent they can use throughout their lives.
(David Campbell is an economic development consultant based in Moncton.)
