Teachers note poor language skills in both Inuktitut and English
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Arviat (Jan 24/01) - The majority of students in the Kivalliq are not functioning well in either Inuktitut or English, say some teachers.
"Children are coming to us in Grade 7 and these kids by and large are lacking skills in both languages," said Fred Durant, principal of Qitiqlik secondary school in Arviat.
Durant admits he is new to the North and needs to spend some time investigating the extent of deficient language skills among kids there, but to him it is a striking concern.
He has been the principal at Qitiqlik for almost three weeks and hails from an extensive education background in Newfoundland.
"If we look at the process in southern Canada, often when kids go into late immersion there is a pretty rigorous screening," Durant explained.
"Here in the North we expect all students to go into immersion but are we expecting them to learn both languages and not be competent in either?"
Durant said the philosophy of immersion in the Kivalliq is a good one, something southern schools could learn from. But the late immersion that the kids wind through is taxing for them.
"We have to make sure we have good programs and highly qualified and skilled teachers," he said. "Their English level is lower than in southern Canada and Inuit teachers say they have great difficulty in both languages."
Walter Raniowski, long-time principal of Victor Sammurtok school in Chesterfield Inlet, agreed there is a problem.
He said it is good that kids on the school yard there still speak Inuktitut all the way to Grade 12, but it is mainly a spoken language.
"It is still very prevalent, there is no danger of losing the language in this community," he said.
"But I wish we had a better program where language skills are better developed. The reading is not very good."
