Education minister elects to scrap early immersion, start French programs in Grade 5

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A tough decision taken by the minister of education has left some parents with a whole heap of tough decisions and others relieved of the burden.

Kelly Lamrock

One the one hand are those who really wanted early immersion for their children, a choice they no longer have; on the other the parents who struggled with making such a choice so early in their child's life and no longer have to.

Under the new system, unveiled by Education Minister Kelly Lamrock Friday, parents won't make any decisions about their child's French Second Language education until Grade 6.

All children will take all of their courses in English from Grades 1 to 4. Their introduction to French will come in Grade 5, when all children will take Intensive French, a program where they spend 70 per cent of their day in French language instruction for the first half of the year, then go back to their regular courses in the second half of the year with a few hours of French each week.

Lynne Post and Jon Annis represent the two sides of the coin.

Post's son Benson is a Grade 1 immersion student.

Her daughter Ellie, 2, was supposed to follow in her big brother's footsteps.

Now Post and her husband aren't sure what to do. Although their first language is English, both are bilingual. They're contemplating teaching Ellie French at home and sending her to French school.

"We've come to no firm decision," Post says. "I'm really left up in the air as to what I will do with my younger child and whether French school is even an option for her. We will definitely have to have a very serious family discussion."

Post says they moved to their neighbourhood so both their children would be within walking distance of a K-8 school with early immersion.

"The logistical things really factor into the decision," she says.

If Ellie goes to French school, she will have to be bused, and the two children will go to two different schools. Because Benson has already started early immersion, he will be allowed to continue with the program.

"I'm not surprised that the minister has made this decision, but I am disappointed," Post says.

Annis's son Jacob is in kindergarten this year and he and his wife debated long and hard about whether to enroll him in early immersion next year. His wife wanted early immersion, he wanted Core, but they eventually agreed on early immersion.

Now early immersion isn't an option for Jacob, but at least Annis no longer has to worry about whether they are making the right decision.

"In a way it does (take off the pressure)," he says. "We are afforded a breather before we have to take a hard look at it again."

Annis isn't entirely convinced starting to learn a second language early on is the best way to go for many reasons.

"I really don't have any problem with them making the changes they are going to make," he says. "Under the circumstances, maybe it will work out to be a good thing. I know people will be against it, but maybe it will be a good thing to start later."

On the other hand, he respects people being upset about the loss of choice.

"There is always the issue of parents being limited in their choices," he says. "I think that parents who want to have those choices should have them. I know we can't have all things, but I hate to see families limited in what their options are."

Doug Willms, an education professor at University of New Brunswick and director of the Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy, supports Lamrock's decision.

"I think it is the right decision. I think it is a courageous decision," he says.

Willms says it should help make choices easier for parents to make.

"Now when they make (their) choice it is a more informed choice," he says.

"Right now you've got a lot of parents and especially parents with young boys -- when I say young I mean the November, December babies -- who go in and say I don't think my child really has the skills so they don't go into it."

Willms also had words of reassurance for parents worried their child simply won't be able to learn a second language unless they start early.

"The first point is that learning a second language "early" means learning it from birth to about age two. That is where you need to learn it if you want to be able to speak it like a true native speaker," he says. "If you miss that window, then it is mostly about getting the hours in... The hours in Grade 5 when kids get that intensive burst of French, plus the hours in late immersion, that is plenty for them to succeed."

But Post is still concerned that the province is taking French out of the wrong end of the education system.

"They have a higher chance of making children bilingual if they take it out of the late years and leave it in the early years," she says. "This is a better option for the kids that were in Core FRench, but not a better option for the kids that would start in early immersion."

Post says parents on both sides of the equation have lost choice.

"I really feel that any decision that removes parental choice really has to be questioned," she says. "As much as I don't like having the choice of early immersion taken away from me, I also don't think it is fair for anglophone parents to have that choice taken away if they had intended for their child to follow the anglophone system (Core French)."

Quick facts

* All students will begin French second Language instruction in Grade 5 with intensive French

* in Grade 6 students will choose either late immersion or post intensive French, an enhanced core French program

* Students enrolled in early French immersion in the 2007-2008 school year will be allowed to continue on with the program

* Instructional time once used for French in Grades 1 to 4 will be used for art, music, physical education and enrichment opportunities

* The province’s target remains having 70 per cent of students graduate at the intermediate level in their second language

September 2008

* Early French immersion no longer available; all Grade 1 students will follow an english-only program

* Core French will no longer be taught from Grade 1 to 4

* Where available, Grade 5 students will take intensive French; within three years the program will be available and mandatory for all Grade 5 students

September 2009

* First group of students begins post intensive French in Grade 6, an enhanced version of core French; they will be required to follow the program through Grade 12

* Late immersion students who begin the program this year will be required to take it through Grade 12