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Dear New Brunswicker,
Since taking office, our government has made many changes and continues to make
changes to both the anglophone and francophone school systems as part of our plan
for quality education in New Brunswick, When Kids Come First.
Over the past several months, there has been a passionate debate about our education
system. A lot of attention has focused on the structure of the French second-language
programming in our anglophone elementary schools as to how to improve our students’
achievement in French, as well as in the key areas of literacy, math and science.
Governments have known for some time that change is absolutely necessary to
achieve high-quality education in New Brunswick. For a decade, our education system
has ranked last in Canada in a series of national and international tests. Our current
system has two learning streams – in one stream are the vast majority of the children
who excel, and in the other the vast majority of the children who struggle.
This
isolation from one’s peers, based on ability, poorly serves both groups. To quote the
MacKay Report on Inclusion, which was commissioned by the Lord government and
endorsed by the current government, the “streaming effect” is “untenable”.
As a result, this past March our government announced reforms to the system to
eliminate streaming in the early grades by replacing the early instruction of French with
a universal entry to French second-language learning in Grade 5.
Though our position met with considerable support around the province, many New
Brunswickers expressed serious concerns. For a substantial number of anglophones,
there was a fear that the proposed restructuring of the teaching of French would
take something away from their children’s education. Furthermore, for many anglophones
and francophones alike, and for a number of other Canadians, there was an
impression that the government was backing away from New Brunswick’s commitment
to bilingualism.
While this was never our intention, we understand how some came to that conclusion.
The position of this government has and always will be one of a firm commitment to
the principles of a bilingual New Brunswick and to the equality of our two linguistic
communities. Our government believes that bilingualism is essential to the character
of New Brunswick, and we are so pleased to have heard countless New Brunswickers
from both linguistic groups overwhelmingly state their support for it.
In June, following the direction of the courts, we began a consultation process on these
reforms. This consultation process has been tremendously helpful to government.
New Brunswickers have shown us that they are very passionate about education and
about bilingualism. We are thankful for the opportunity to have heard them. We have
seen a consultation process move us from a debate to a dialogue, and both sides have
been more open to acknowledge the many legitimate needs our children have in our
schools. In hindsight, it would have been better if this provincial conversation had
happened from the start.
On behalf of Premier Shawn Graham and our entire government, I want to sincerely
thank the many hundreds of New Brunswickers who participated in this process. To
those who applied for the judicial review that led to the consultations, the education
experts who spoke out on the proposed change, the organizations that made submissions,
many of the leaders of the francophone community in our province who have
lent their voice to the discussion, and the parents who have taken the time to express
their points of view, let it be known that you have all made an important contribution.
Through the consultation process, the government and various stakeholders found
common ground on a number of issues. Those who favoured the status quo, or
something similar to it, have largely come to agree that the streaming problem is real
and must be tackled. At the same time, those who advocated a vigorous response to
the equality issue, including the government, better understand the real and legitimate concerns of those who want an assurance that our public schools will serve the unique
needs of Canada’s only bilingual province. While our original proposal was a sincere
effort to balance these two legitimate needs, I am confident we can do better for
having heard other ideas on how to get this balance right.
As the consultation process concludes, our deliberations will be framed by two
preliminary observations:
1. It was agreed by virtually all participants in the consultation process that the status
quo is not working and it must be changed.
A series of reports have pointed out the problems in our system. The MacKay Report
said that “it was unanimously agreed” that an impact of current immersion programs
is streaming, and that “French Immersion as currently delivered, is widely regarded as
a barrier to effective inclusion in the anglophone sector.”
Furthermore, New Brunswick students consistently place last in Canada in national
and international testing.
From MacKay and other reports, the testing results, and the growing consensus we
found in our consultations, it is clear that the status quo is not good enough for our
students. It is evident that change is necessary to provide quality education.
Over 5,000 new kids enter our anglophone schools every fall, and we must live up to
our responsibility to give them the best-quality education we can conceive. A delay
is neither right nor fair, so we will change the status quo and we will implement
these changes over the upcoming school year.
2. As government has opened itself to the consultation process, others have provided
more ideas for getting this balance right – and we have learned from them. It is clear
that our previous proposal of March 14 can be improved. We can’t say enough about
the value of the consultation process in helping us to find other ways to improve
French second-language programming.
While we must tackle streaming and find more time to focus on literacy, math, art,
physical education, music and enrichment, the countless individuals and groups who
participated in the consultation process also told us that access to French before
Grade 5 must be a part of our model of learning French.
As our government reflects on the options brought forward, we will keep all of your
viewpoints in mind. And as government moves forward with other reforms to both the
anglophone and francophone systems, we hope that New Brunswickers will remain
engaged and participate in the process by sharing their experiences and ideas.
We believe that this consultation has given us the tools to build a better model, one
that will be effective, educationally sound and receive broader support from New
Brunswickers. Our objective continues to be a quality French second-language
program within a quality education system that serves all students well, today and
tomorrow. We look forward to sharing an improved model with New Brunswickers
on August 5, and we will do our very best to get this balance right for all of New
Brunswick’s children.
Sincerely,
Kelly Lamrock
Minister of Education |
