16% failing high school literacy test

The vast majority of Ontario's high school students are passing the province's literacy test, but about 16 per cent are still failing it.

Figures released Wednesday by the Education Quality and Accountability Office show 84 per cent of the 170,000 Grade 10 students who took the literacy test in April passed.

The failure rate is up just slightly over last year.

Testing officials say there are early signals that students will struggle with literacy by the time they reach high school.  The majority of students who failed this year's test, also struggled with the Grade 6 provincial test.

The testers say tracking the progress of students as they move from Grade 6 to Grade 10 reveals success depends on attention and support both at home and at school.