Low ranking highlights Nunavut's struggle with school attendance

Education officials in Nunavut say they are looking for solutions after a study ranked the territory below many jurisdictions in the world, when it comes to schooling.

Ottawa-based non-profit research group, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards, used data on life expectancy, income and education to compare Canadian provinces and territories to the rest of the world.

On education, Nunavut ranked nearthe bottom forthe number of expected years spent in school, coming 107th out of 188and behind places such asPalestine and Malaysia.

The ranking is sobering, saidKelliGillard, the chair of the Nunavut's coalition of district education authorities.

"Attendance is one thing that we struggle with a great deal in Nunavut, and the coalition is working towards finding some answers," said Gillard.

"We're going to be doing some research here in the next year,talking to parents and kids about why they're struggling to graduate, why we're having these dropouts," she said.

The Nunavut Education Department is also reviewing the territory's Education Act with another round of consultations scheduled later this month.