Canadian
Parents for French puts
forward innovative solutions to deal with worrisome national decline in
French second language (FSL) education
Parent-led
advocacy group calls for tri-level co-ordination to implement action plan
to meet Ottawa’s bilingualism education targets
OTTAWA
– Canadian Parents for French (CPF) is calling for a co-ordinated
push by the federal government, provincial/territorial governments and
school boards to successfully meet Ottawa’s commitment to a dramatic
increase in bilingual education opportunities.
The national, parent-led
advocacy group today released its annual Report on the "State of
French Second Language Education (FSL) in Canada" at a Parliament
Hill news conference. The Report is the most comprehensive analysis
available of the current status of both core (or, basic) French and French
immersion education across Canada.
"After years of growth,
FSL education is stagnating in Canada," said Dr. Ian Richmond, CPF
National President and French professor at Nova Scotia’s Collège
Ste-Anne. "Immersion enrolment is stable, with enrolment falling in
many jurisdictions and growth limited to only a few. However, the numbers
of young Canadians exposed to core or basic French classes is falling
across the board."
"Indeed, there is a
universal decline in both absolute numbers and the percentage of eligible
children for core French enrolment across the country. This is very
worrisome, as core or basic French provides the great majority of students
with their exposure to our second official language.
"This troublesome decline,
linked to the need for larger numbers of qualified FSL teachers and
greater classroom resources, speaks to the urgency of concerted action by
education officials at all levels of government. Only Alberta anticipates
reversing this trend, largely as the result of a policy that makes
instruction in one of seven second languages mandatory for nine years of
schooling This is regrettably not the case in a majority of provinces and
territories."
The CPF Report examines FSL
enrolment trends over a period of several years. This methodology provides
a better indicator of patterns, while eliminating extraordinary events
particular to any one year.
"Failure to mount a co-ordinated,
effective approach to boosting FSL enrolment will call into question the
federal government’s laudable goal of doubling the number, within ten
years, of high school graduates with a working knowledge of both English
and French," added Jim Shea, the CPF’s Ottawa-based National
Executive Director.
"The good news is that
Canadian Parents for French strongly believes we can reverse this
situation, if all the stakeholders pull together for this very desirable
and achievable goal."
The CPF Report lays out a
number of building blocks to a comprehensive response to stemming FSL
attrition:
- Greater
transparency and accountability for the spending of dedicated FSL
education funding;
- Introduction
of a wider range of core French delivery models and teaching tools;
- More
and better classroom materials for French immersion studies;
- Innovative
variation on existing programs (such as a move to ‘compact core’
or block scheduling);
- Aggressive
recruiting to ensure that reserved spaces for FSL teachers at
education colleges are filled;
- More
use of distance learning to expand and enrich FSL education;
- More
opportunities for study, work or exchange programs in French
majority language regions; and
- Stronger
promotion of FSL programs to parents by school boards.
"We believe the federal
government should assume a leadership role in co-ordinating this
effort," Shea continued. "We are reiterating our call for a
national summit of all FSL partners – governments, teachers, education
administrators and parents – to put this plan into motion.
"There is a time to study,
and a time to act. The time to act is now."
Canadian Parents for French is
a national network of volunteers which values French as an integral part
of Canada and which is dedicated to the promotion and creation of
French-second-language learning opportunities for your Canadians.
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Information:
Shailagh
O’Shaughnessy, CPF Communications Officer (bilingual)
Canadian
Parents for French
(cellular)
613- 862-7669 (work) 613-235-1481 ext. 27
