The first public consultation for New Brunswick’s proposed Innovative Immersion Program ended after 29 minutes.
In a live stream on Monday evening, where all questions were submitted ahead of time, Education Minister Bill Hogan addressed concerns over staffing levels, French proficiency and the reasoning behind the changes.
“While the current way of doing things has worked well for some students, this has not been the case for each student,” Hogan said.
“We want to ensure all anglophone sector students have the opportunity to learn French no matter where they live or their learning preference.”
The question and answer format — moderated by Tiffany Bastin, the assistant deputy minister for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development — comes over one month after the announced structure of the controversial reform.
‘Con job’
Responding to repeated questions about the rationale behind the changes, Hogan referred to previous data and consultations.
One question labelled the province’s process a “con job” due to its firm stance on eliminating the current French immersion program.
“Chris would like to know: How could you possibly call this a consultation when you have cancelled FI registration and announced the plan before you consult? This is a con job,” Bastin read from one submission.
“Wow, those are some strong words, but I appreciate the candour,” Hogan responded.
“We have consulted over the past year. We’ve been out in the system talking to teachers, administrators, and learning specialists. … We’ve also benefitted from the outstanding consultation work that was done through the official languages review and the report on second language learning.”
“We used all this information to develop a proposal, and changes are coming, but let me be clear, there’s still a chance for New Brunswickers to have their say.”
Resources
In recent weeks, stakeholders have sounded the alarm over a shortage of teachers to facilitate the new program.
Chris Collins, executive director of Canadian Parents for French in New Brunswick, previously told Global News there are 38 schools in southeastern New Brunswick alone. It adds up to about 500 kindergarten and Grade 1 classes, and there are only 120 bilingual teachers. He said there are likely 60 needed per district, about 240 in total.
On Monday, Hogan said they will not require all teachers to be bilingual, but did acknowledge concerns over staffing levels.
“I admit we may see a greater strain on those supports and resources. That’s why we are working on recruitment campaigns now, so we can have those resources in place when they are needed,” Hogan said.
Hogan added the province has plans to roll out a marketing effort to recruit more teachers this spring.
The plan
The new plan will phase in the proposed immersion program this fall for students in kindergarten and Grade 1.
They will receive 50 per cent of the instruction in French and 50 per cent in English. From Grades 6 to 8, French would be only 40 per cent of their instruction.
Under the current model, students get between 85 and 90 per cent of their learning in French in Grade 1, and about 70 per cent in middle school.
Consultations
Public consultations for the proposed program are slated to continue over the coming weeks. This includes the following sessions which will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at:
- Gowan Brae Golf Club in Bathurst on Jan. 17.
- Delta Beauséjour in Moncton on Jan. 19.
- Delta Saint John on Jan. 24.
- Delta Fredericton on Jan. 25.
Two virtual consultations are also scheduled for the same time of day on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2.
Additionally, the province previously launched a survey to seek feedback on the proposed framework. During the live stream, Hogan noted it had already received over 6,500 answers.