Although there’s a national shortage of French immersion teachers, and the Coquitlam school district’s enrolment is above the provincial average, SD43 has been able to find enough staff for its programs.
A report released by the B.C. and Yukon branch of Canadian Parents for French on Tuesday showed French enrolment in SD43 “remains steady above the provincial average.” In the last school year, 2017-18, there were 3,953 students registered in the program which makes up 11.9% of the district’s entire student body. In B.C., there were 53,487 students accounting for 9.5% of students.
The report said French immersion enrolment has been increasing for 20 consecutive years and as a result of its “booming popularity” districts around the province are scrambling to find enough qualified teachers and assistants.
“SD43 has French immersion programs fully staffed for this school year, including a small reserve of French immersion [teachers on call], and we continue to recruit into our pool of teachers in preparation for absences caused by sickness, take holidays, resignations and others,” said district spokesperson Peter Chevrier in an email to The Tri-City News. “While we are still registering students and counting enrolment, we forecast a similar number of students this year as last year.”
Chevrier noted the district was the first in B.C. to offer French immersion and this will be the 50th anniversary of SD43’s programs.
British Columbia school districts are also scrambling to find teachers because of a Supreme Court of Canada landmark ruling in 2016 that upheld a B.C. Teachers Federation’s appeal on class size and composition.
Chevrier said the district “has been able to attract teachers and have teachers in place for this school year.”
He noted SD43 took a proactive approach to the ruling that allowed it to meet its staffing needs, but the district continues to recruit substitute teachers and other staff as a contingency for any future absences.
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