Since French immersion programs in public schools were popularized, every year the number of parents lining up outside schools to register their children grows. However the popularity of bilingual programs has a downside: not all hopeful participants are able to enroll or secure a seat in the class.
According to Canadian Parents for French, 1,000 kids in BC wanting to enroll in French immersion each year do not get into such programs.
The leading reason why so many kids are being turned away from a program that is irrefutably beneficial to a child’s cognitive and social development is that there is not enough available classroom space to the ready children. In searching for more bilingual teachers to expand the French immersion programs and accept more children, BC public schools employ many French immersion teachers who are migrants of eastern Canada.
In my own elementary school, for instance, I was taught entirely by such teachers. BC has no shortage of students who aspire to be teachers, though — the problem is that not enough of them are able to provide French instruction.
No child should be denied a French education, and post-secondary students shouldn’t have to risk losing French skills.
To date, SFU is the only university in BC to house a program (Bureau des Affaires Francophones et Francophile) that offers BC native students the chance to complete degrees entirely in French, including topics in French, Political Science, Literature, and Linguistics.
Students coming out of this program are among the few BC locals able to become French immersion teachers. Other universities should adopt programs like BAFF to allow for French immersion students to continue their language studies here in BC as well as to ensure that the next generation of teachers are proficient in French and can meet the demand that French programs are facing.
The creation of bilingual undergrad programs across the province would be worthwhile for universities as today’s enthusiasm for French language education is unlikely to diminish. In fact, every year students move east to pursue French studies. If more BC schools offered curriculums that facilitated French language instruction, many students would not move across Canada but would enroll locally.
The provincial government should also take interest in this, to incentivize and promote bilingual undergrad programs in cooperation with universities in BC to create local French teachers.
No child should be turned away from a French immersion program, and post-secondary students shouldn’t have to sacrifice their continuation of French studies or risk losing their language skills.
Being bilingual allows for an individual to not only diversify their communication skills and cultural understandings, but it also accelerates problem solving skills and critical thinking skills. Not to mention, as adults, bilingual individuals will have an edge on the competition as competency in multiple languages is seen as an asset.
In order to sustain and cultivate bilingualism in BC, more universities across the province should create programs that allow for students to pursue many subjects, including education. Creating homegrown bilingual teachers is more important now than ever before as young people show more and more interest in French language.
