A program that aims to curb dropout rates in Quebec is showing promise.
Youth Fusion, a non-profit group that hires university students to lead extra activities in high schools, has helped address the problem.
Organizers report, for example, that the dropout rate at Ecole Pierre-Dupuy, a high school in the east end of Montreal, has gone down by more than 10 per cent since the program began.
Gabriel Bran Lopez came up with the idea two years ago to pair university students with high school students to broaden their possibilities.
"We are mobilizing for youth, we are making a difference, we are countering dropout rates together," Lopez told CTV Montreal on Thursday.
Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay and business leaders met with high school students on Thursday at city hall.
Dropout rates across Quebec are among the worst in the country.
Close to one in three Quebec teenagers -- 29 per cent -- leaves high school without graduating.
Lopez, a recent Concordia University graduate, started the program after reading that many high school students wanted more extracurricular activities.
He decided to make it happen with people who are old enough to be respected, but young enough to acutely remember the difficulties of high school.
