Jahna Pettinger enrolled her daughter Sophie at Roslyn Elementary in Westmount four years ago, mainly because of the school’s strong French immersion program.
“I want my child to be completely proficient in French, completely bilingual,” Pettinger said outside the school Friday morning.
“I am from British Columbia so I am an Anglophone still learning French. I think it’s very important.”
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When her daughter started Grade 3 this year, Pettinger was appalled there was no permanent French teacher for Sophie’s class — and she claims the substitute teacher didn’t speak French properly.
“She spelled ‘Lundi’ with an ‘e’ and my eight-year-old daughter had to correct her,” Pettinger said, adding the children had a hard time understanding the teacher.
“It was bad with her,” Sophie said. “She was not really aware that it is Grade 3, not Grade 2.”
Pettinger isn’t alone. Miriam Roy says her daughter also had issues with the French class.
“It was really difficult because she kept faking sick and wanted to stay home while it was French class time,” Roy said.
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Roy and Pettinger said there is now a new substitute in the class — but they don’t know how long she will stay, which they say is unsettling for children.
The parents aren’t blaming the school but instead the school board, which is responsible for hiring.
“We are cognizant of this issue, and we are working very hard,” said English Montreal School Board spokesman Mike Cohen.
“It’s still not even the end of September. Every day that this goes is one day too long, but we can’t do it any faster.”
The EMSB is on a recruitment drive to hire more teachers — but it admits it’s a challenge because the French school boards are also hiring, making the pool of available talent quite small.
Cohen said it is a province-wide issue that affects many schools, not just Roslyn.
“The influx of immigrants in the last few years to Quebec has increased the student population at the French boards because they are not eligible to come to our board,” Cohen said. “Therefore the French board got a leg up on us.”
For parents at Roslyn, they say all they want is a French teacher who actually speaks French.
“It makes me feel nervous to be honest,” said Roy. “I feel nervous for her because she is not getting French at home.”
They worry if the situation doesn’t improve soon, the progress their kids have made so far may be lost.