Released: March 17, 2008

Vancouver, BC: École Stelly’s Secondary, situated on the bucolic Saanich peninsula outside of Victoria on Vancouver Island, was the scene of shock and dismay when New Brunswick Minister of Education Kelly Lamrock announced last Friday that the province’s popular early French immersion program would be cut. Grade 12 students from Stelly’s sent off letters, carefully hand-written in French, expressing their frustration to Mr. Lamrock.

The New Brunswick Department of Education will replace early French immersion with Intensive French in Grade 5, followed by either late French immersion or extended core French in Grade 6. The main reasons given for axing the program were low completion rates and perceived underperformance.

The Stelly’s students took exception, and so they should. The early French immersion program in Saanich School District has one of the lowest attrition rates in the country. Roughly 80 per cent of students starting the program in Kindergarten or Grade one go on to graduate with their British Columbia Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood Diploma) as well as the Diplôme de fin d'études secondaires en Colombie-Britannique. This is remarkable when you consider there is only one entry point and many possible exit points.

Immersion students across BC can also congratulate themselves on their academic achievement. On standardized provincial/territorial testing conducted in elementary and middle school grades - in English - immersion students consistently perform as well as or better than their counterparts in the English program.

Stelly’s students are baffled that the New Brunswick Department of Education didn’t seek advice from other provinces which are experiencing success in their jurisdictions. “Canada’s early French immersion program is the best in the world, and many other countries have adopted our model to teach second languages in their countries. Our program is working well and we are seeing incredible results. Why would you want to abolish it?” asked Ben H. in one of the letters.

Rebecca B. H. has chosen a career path as a result of her experiences in the popular program of choice: “Early French immersion has inspired me to become a primary French immersion teacher. I want children to have the same or even better opportunities than I have had. I want to improve their lives.”

In total, 41 letters were mailed to Minister Lamrock.

Canadian Parents for French is the national non-profit organization dedicated to the creation and promotion of French second language learning opportunities for young Canadians.

For more information, please contact:
Nancy Taylor, Acting Executive Director This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
BC & Yukon Branch

Attachments:

BC Students protest cancellation of early French Immersion in New Brunswick.pdf

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