Tag Archive for: Schools

Decline English Schools

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Youth push for anglo school funding

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The Low Down

English-speaking youths have a strong sense of attachment to Quebec and to the English-speaking community and they wish to remain in the province. But to do so they require strong schools and strong communities.

”English-speaking schools are critical in forming our identity,” said Nicola Johnston, co-chair of the Quebec Community Groups Network’s Youth Standing Committee. ”They are also important centres of our community.” Read more…

English boards deserve credit for stressing French

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The Montreal Gazette

The English Montreal School Board’s ”Tout en français” marketing campaign, launched this week, reflects a well-conceived desire to produce graduates whose French is fully good enough for the job market. This added emphasis on French is a responsible initiative which could well help stem the decline in English-school enrolment.

[…] A year ago, the Quebec Community Grous Network reported, after a substantial study, that many young-adult anglos want to be more bilingual: To have the job prospects they need to stay in Quebec, their French must be more fluent, they said. Read more…

t Jeffery Hale Community Partners

EMSB pitches ‘tout en français’

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The Montreal Gazette, Brenda Branswell

When the English Montreal School Board kicks off its new marketing campaign at an elementary school today, it will do so tout en français to make a point.

With elementary school registration looming next month, the EMSB wants to court new students to its English schools by promoting its French-language education.

[…] To English parents who are sending their children to French school, the board says it guarantees their children will graduate fully bilingual after attending its French immersion program. ”I think the English school system, by and large, is doing a better job than they have been in educating the kids in French, ”said Lawrence DePoe, executive director of the Quebec branch of Canadian Parents for French, who appears in the EMSB promotional video.

But DePoe also said it is important for school boards to keep improving. He referred to a report released by the Quebec Community Groups Network last year about a consultation with 400 English-speaking young people age 16 to 29. They said they wanted more French-language training.

Read more…

Pearson hears parents out

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The Chronicle, Raffy Boudjikanian

About sixty parents showed up a lively evening discussion at Macdonald High School focusing on Lester B. Pearson school board’s French-language, special needs and magnet school progams. (Chronicle, Éric Carrière) Teaching French at English schools, tending to children with special needs and the magnet school program were the three main topics discussed by a group of about 60 parents and Lester B. Pearson officials at a “town hall”-style meeting held yesterday night at Ste. Anne de Bellevue’s Macdonald High School. “It’s quite difficult to meet every child’s needs,” said Karen Jones, a Grade 7-8 teacher at Macdonald High School, adding it is “ridiculous” to expect teachers and parents to be able to do so, as she garnered applause from several sitting in the audience around her. Of the three issues discussed during the evening, opinions seemed to differ most sharply on the school board’s inclusion policy for children with special needs.

[…] However, one parent who did not reveal his name when speaking pointed to a recent Quebec Community Groups Network study that revealed many anglophone youth in the province want to learn more French. The network, a non-profit organization that advocates English minority rights across the province, surveyed 400 English-speaking youth in different anglophone communities and found they were looking to learn more French, he said. Read more…