French immersion good for Ontario
The benefits of French immersion programs — developmental, cultural, societal — are numerous and well-documented. French immersion students develop higher levels of communicative abilities in French than students in core French and French immersion has no negative effects on students’ academic achievement on their English language development, according to research published by Canadian Parents for French.
Bilingualism, in turn, opens up professional opportunities for students. It also promotes our province and country’s rich multicultural heritage, including Frenchlanguage culture.
Ontario’s French immersion programs, however, continue to garner significant negative attention.
Let me be clear: Enthusiasm for French immersion is not wanting. Canadian Parents for French reported that registration for French immersion programs in Ontario has been rising consistently for nearly 15 years, at an average rate exceeding five per cent per year. Accounts continue to roll in of parents lining up all night (sometimes more than one night in a row) simply to try and be lucky enough to secure a spot for their children in the coveted programs.
What is frankly unacceptable — and keeps me up at night as an Ontarian whose first language is French — is that demand for French immersion in our province is far outstripping supply. How can it be that parents seeking to give their child a better education by registering them in French immersion are turned away?
An important piece in the puzzle is the dearth of French-language teachers.
In 2015, Canada’s Commissioner of Official Languages testified before the Senate that some regions were taking steps akin to those taken in the film “La grande séduction” (“Seducing Doctor Lewis”) in order to attract French immersion teachers.
The Ontario Government acknowledges that there are not enough French-language teachers in the province, including in French immersion programs, and has recently committed to increasing their number. This is an important step in the right direction, but it is not enough.
Parents who want their children to access French immersion must be able to make that election without camping out overnight. Access to French immersion must not depend on one’s luck and should not be largely restricted to the uppermiddle class. Que faire?
Most readers will be surprised to learn that Ontario’s wafer-thin legal framework on French immersion harks back to 1976. What amounted to an encouraging reform to the Education Act nearly five decades ago by Premier Bill Davis has become an unsatisfactory and outdated response to the burgeoning need. Our province’s legislation still does not grant parents a right to French immersion. Access remains discretionary.
It’s time for a legislative overhaul. I am actively reflecting on how to best improve access to our French immersion programs, and I invite all stakeholders — and especially families — to reach out to me with their ideas and concerns.
Recently, then-Federal Minister for Official Languages Mélanie Joly rightly stated that “there can no longer be waiting lists” for French immersion. While Ottawa has put money on the table, it’s up to Ontario to act because education is a provincial responsibility.
As Minister Joly emphasized, “each time we deny a child the opportunity to study in French immersion, we’re preventing a citizen from becoming bilingual and that harms the building of a bilingual country.”
Ontario cannot wait another 45 years before taking action. At least I cannot. Parents and children deserve better, and our province deserves better.