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Cut to French program sparks anger 'No letter was sent out to parents telling us the program was removed'
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 16, 2013
IQALUIT
A group of Iqaluit parents are voicing their concerns over the removal of French language classes at elementary and middle schools in the city.
Glen Tucker, whose daughter attends Aqsarniit Middle School, is disappointed about the sudden disappearance of the Grade 7 intensive French program.
He said his daughter was looking forward to renewing her French studies this year but was saddened to learn, just a few days before school resumed, that the program had been cancelled altogether.
"No letter was sent out to parents telling us the program was removed," Tucker said.
"My wife just happened to call the principal at Aqsarniit and that's how we found out. He said it was cancelled because of a lack of interest but how is that possible when nothing was brought up at the end of the school year?"
The issue was brought to the principal's attention but Tucker said the explanations for the cancellation have been vague and unsatisfactory.
Tucker is also worried about French-language classes being cut completely at the Joamie and Nakasuk elementary schools.
His son, currently in Grade 5, loves the language and is already better than his father at speaking French. Tucker said he doesn't want French to interfere with core classes of the curriculum but the trend has him and other parents wondering about French-language education down the road.
The group has written a letter to the Iqaluit District Education Authority, which was met with an invitation to attend a meeting on Sept. 23.
The French-language program used to include a pre-intensive course in Grade 6, an intensive course in Grade 7 and a post-intensive course for Grade 8 students.
Approximately 15 students are currently entering the final year of the program's three-year cycle, which predates the current Nunavut Education Act, passed in 2008.
Qikiqtani School operations superintendent Paul Mooney said miscommunication was definitely a factor in this situation - but it's only one part of a larger issue.
"It's my understanding that approximately 10 students were in the pre-intensive program last year but as the year came to an end, a few of those students indicated they were moving away," he said.
"For some reason the number came down to seven and that would mean other classes would be much larger. We have a fixed number of teachers and that is based on enrolment, not on the program. The principal was in touch with us at QSO and there was an agreement that seven wasn't large enough for a single class."
Unfortunately, the message was never passed along to the parents of those seven students over the summer.
Mooney said he's investigated what happened and although better communication might have brought the issue to a head sooner, it wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome.
In 2009, the education authority chose to adopt a dual-language model for Joamie, Aqsarniit and Nakasuk schools after recommendations made by a consultant.
The model created two starting points for kindergarten students: one in the Inuktitut language and one in English.
"Inuktitut and English are the predominant languages in Iqaluit because of the demographics of the city," the 2009 motion states.
"If the schools offer an Inuktitut stream as well as an English stream we will be satisfying the majority of the students in Iqaluit. The education authority also feels that it is important to offer an immersion stream for the children that have lost their language and whose parents would like to see them retain or learn the language."
Based on the model, a certain amount of time needs to be devoted to Inuktitut and English, depending on the stream the student is in.
For example, a Grade 4 student in the non-Inuit language stream must learn in English 70 to 75 per cent of the time and in Inuktitut 25 to 30 per cent of the time.
A Grade 7 student in the non-Inuit language stream will learn in English 50 to 60 per cent of the time, while learning in Inuktitut 40 to 50 per cent of the time.
"In our schools the 'non-Inuit language' is English," Mooney said.
"The administrators at all three schools are required to meet these percentages. It's not that the principals made a decision to do away with French. They were directed by the department to comply to the language percentages."
Iqaluit parents wanting to replace Inuktitut with French can't do that, either.
Mooney said it's because the Education Act doesn't allow for that kind of substitution.
"The Department of Education is looking to the future in terms of graduation outcomes that would include Inuktitut," he said.
The policy is nearing the end of its five-year lifespan and is due to be reviewed in March 2014.
"Maybe this will open the discussion into how we deal with French," Mooney concluded.
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