Struggling students buying passing grades

Little- known schools help immigrants boost marks and enter university without basic English skills

The Vancouver board of education is sounding an alarm about a growing number of immigrant students who fail high- school English classes but get the credits they need to attend university by taking inferior courses at little- known independent schools where everyone passes.

Many west- side schools are reporting that students who do poorly in English 10, English 11 or English 12 are dropping out and paying fees to take short courses during the summer or after hours at independent schools that cater to international students, said William Wong, a district principal for English Language Learning.

It’s not the first time this concern has surfaced in Vancouver. In 2007, staff at University Hill secondary warned that some struggling students were paying hundreds of dollars to replace low English 12 marks with As and Bs from private schools. Jill Philipchuk, principal at the time, said she feared the practice was spreading.

Her words proved prophetic, according to Wong, who said many students at various schools now pay significant dollars to “buy” English 10, 11 and 12 credits when they’re not able to meet the standards. “They’ve got the marks [ but] it’s really not indicative of their language ability.”

While those marks may open post- secondary doors, their poor English skills will hamper future success, he added.

Stephen Guy- Bray, a professor and English department head at the University of B. C., said too many first- year students struggle with language. “Anyone marking first-year English notices that a lot of students just aren’t up to it,” he said Sunday. “They’ve managed to get into university without basic English skills.”

It’s a persistent problem, he said, noting some students end up taking the Language Proficiency Index test of reading and writing over and over again. “It delays their progress,” he noted.

Wong said one international school in particular has been attracting a large number of Vancouver students, but he didn’t want to name it publicly.

While no one has done a study to determine who these students are and how they got into UBC without basic skills, Guy- Bray said the vast majority are students who are learning English as a second language, although some are also native English speakers.

The Education Ministry needs to be more vigilant to ensure that all B. C. schools — public and independent — have similar standards for students who pass English 12, he said. ( Although students are required to write a provincial exam in English 12 or its equivalent in order to graduate, that mark counts for less than half of the final grade.)

Wong agreed more must be done to maintain educational standards and ensure students have equal opportunities when seeking post- secondary admission.

But he suggested the problem might also be remedied through better communications and helping immigrant families understand that it’s more important for their children to learn the language than to move speedily into university.

Many of these families are from Asian countries where students are expected to complete high school on time and go immediately to post- secondary, where they will get whatever help they need to succeed, Wong said. If they don’t enrol in university before age 19, they will likely lose the opportunity, he said.

That’s not the case in this country, where universities are open to all ages. It’s much better for students to master English before going to university, no matter how long it takes, he said.

“Our focus is on success for every student. And it’s not just immediate success but it’s longterm success for them,” Wong added. Independent schools that offer short courses don’t have the same priorities, he said. “Those schools see a market out there.”

Wong plans to talk to the ethnic media in Vancouver today to get help in spreading information about the Canadian education system.

The district is also contacting teachers to get a better idea of how many students are leaving public schools in search of easy credentials.

After similar concerns were raised in 2007, former education minister Shirley Bond ordered five independent schools to improve their standards or risk being decertified.