Yellowknife (Aug 09/06) - The number of high school graduates in the Northwest Territories is growing faster than almost anywhere else in the country, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

During the 2003/2004 school year, 302 students donned their caps and gowns, an 18 per cent increase since 2000. The Yukon - 29 per cent - was the only jurisdiction to post a higher total.

The overall graduation rate in the Northwest Territories, however, still lags behind the national average. About half of the territories' students are expected to complete high school, well below the Canadian mark of 75 per cent.

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins said the recent increase in grads is encouraging, but he wondered whether education officials were doing enough to "engage" students.

The government could do more to tout the benefits of a high school diploma, Hawkins said, which include careers in the skilled trades.

"No, no, no," he said when asked whether the current gradation rate is enviable. "Let's celebrate (the increase) but let's engage teens at their level."

The territories' gains came in tandem with more spending on education, according to the authors of the StatsCan report, released Aug. 3.

The number of educators jumped 17 per cent between 1997 and 2004, the highest increase in the country.

The territories spends about $13,000 annually on each student, a total more than 50 per cent higher than the national average. Part of the difference comes from salaries; NWT educators make about $72,000 a year on average, the second highest figure in the country.

Overall, federal, territorial and provincial governments spent $42 billion on public education during the 2003/2004 school year. About 93 per cent of students nationwide - and virtually all from the NWT - attend public school.

Officials from the territorial education department were not immediately available for comment.