“The auditor general’s findings about the level of racism in our schools is very worrisome,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, in a news release.

“Low expectations create barriers that prevent our youth from reaching their full potential and prevent them from continuing on to post-secondary education and training.”

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British Columbia has fallen well short of its 10-year commitment to closing the education gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal public school students, reveals a report from the province’s auditor general.

Carol Bellringer found that while high-school completion rates for First Nations students rose from 49 to 62 per cent over the last decade, they remained more than 20 percentage points below the 2015 target level of 85 per cent.

Graduation rates for non-aboriginal students increased from 82 to 87 per cent during the same period.

“There is a wide and historically persistent gap in graduation rates between aboriginal and non-aboriginal students in Canada,” said Bellringer.

“While this is an improvement, more can be done because the gap has not closed.”

The province pledged in 2005 to boost aboriginal student graduation rates to the 85-per-cent level anticipated for their non-aboriginal counterparts by 2015.

In 10 of B.C.’s 60 school districts fewer than half of aboriginal students graduated in 2014, with especially dismal results among students who live on reserve and those in provincial care, revealed the report.

It sets out 11 recommendations, including encouraging the ministry to collaborate with school boards, superintendents and aboriginal communities to create a shared, system-wide strategy.