Lack of space, not a shortage of French immersion teachers, is restricting the number of classes, resulting in a waiting list for programs, the Tri-Cities' board of education was told last week.
As in other B.C. districts, the popularity of French immersion has sparked a need for teachers but School District 43 has been successful in recruiting, superintendent Patricia Gartland told trustees.
“We would be interested [in more French Immersion classes] if we could provide the space to increase the program,” she said at the Jan. 30 board of education meeting.
SD43 saw 620 applications for programs of choice in the district this winter, including Montessori, Bilingual Mandarin and the Reggio-influenced program but French immersion had the most applicants, the board was told. In all, 120 students were unable to get into a program of choice and were placed on a waiting list.
“We filled all the programs in all the schools,” assistant superintendent Gerald Shong said, noting it’s also a challenge to find specially-trained teachers for the Montessori program.
A shortage of French immersion teachers has been a chronic problem, with Chilliwack school district officials heading to Quebec to look for educators and the Canadian Parents for French in BC and Yukon calling on Education Minister Rob Fleming to take action.
Among the recommendations sent to Fleming recently, the organization asked for more incentives, such as student loan forgiveness, recognition of French teachers from other provinces, travel subsidies and bursaries.
Wages are also an issue, according to the organization, which wrote: “As the French teacher shortage is now a country-wide challenge, provinces are beginning to compete against one another. British Columbia has the second lowest teacher salary in Canada. If we are to begin anywhere, that has to change. We must be competitive to recruit and retain teachers in British Columbia.”
But SD43 maintains that it has obtained the required staffing for the popular program. “We’re doing extremely well in our district,” Gartland said.
Meanwhile, a space crunch at Glen elementary has resulted in the gradual moving of the early French immersion Program to Westwood elementary, phased over six years, beginning with kindergarten in September 2018.
