The demand for French immersion in B.C. public schools is “outstripping capacity in many B.C. communities,” particularly remote school districts, according to a report released Thursday by The Canadian Parents for French. 

The 32-page report, by the B.C. and Yukon branch of the organization, found three key areas of French language education in B.C. public schools need improvement: program access, providing for students with learning disabilities and dealing with a shortage of qualified French teachers. 

According to the report, there were 46,900 students registered in French immersion last year in B.C., which is 8.1 per cent of the entire public school student population.  Enrolment in French immersion has been increasing for 14 years. 

Glen Lewis, executive director of Canadian Parents for French B.C. and Yukon, said there are no studies to show exactly how many French immersion teachers are needed in the province to keep up with the demand, but anecdotally it’s clear there are not enough when so many districts offer enrolment by a lottery system. 

The report noted of the 60 school districts in B.C., 40 offer French immersion. 

As of January, parents were lobbying for new French immersion programs in Tofino, Nanaimo, Squamish, Gibsons, Whistler, Vancouver, New Westminster, Chilliwack, Agassiz, Penticton, Vernon, Mackenzie and Fernie. 

“School districts continue to mitigate FSL (French Second language) program capping in a variety of ways including: enrolment lotteries and early morning registration that has forced some parents to camp overnight.  Access then becomes an unfair game of chance and/or parental resources (time),” the report states. 

The report recommends a national teacher labour mobility agreement, which would permit teachers to teach anywhere in Canada. 

It also recommends that all new teachers take one mandatory French methodology course as part of their teacher certification. 

At the moment, there is no requirement for students studying to become teachers to take a French course even though they may be required to teach core French.  This is where basic French is taught, typically starting in grades 4 or 5, for one to two classes per week. 

“There are 220,000 kids in core French and a UBC study in 2007 found only 22 per cent of elementary school teachers (in B.C.) who taught core French reported being at ease teaching it. 

“For middle school, it was 29 per cent who felt at ease,” compared to a national average of 75 per cent for elementary and middle school teachers feeling at ease teaching French, Lewis said. 

“That’s a big red flag for us.  We’re clearly behind the eight ball having enough qualified core French teachers.” 

Besides core French, the other two areas of French education in the province are intensive French — where instruction, for half of the year for grades 6 and 7, is done in French — and French immersion, where the main language of instruction for all classes is French. 

Ministry of Education spokesman Matt Silver said Thursday Minister Don McRae will be reviewing the report, but it is too early to make a comment on whether any of the recommendations will be acted upon. 

The report, called State of French Second Language Education in B.C., also recommends increasing online learning opportunities from grades 6 to 12 instead of the current grades 10 to 12, noting this will help provide better access to French language education for remote communities that do not have French immersion programs. 

kpemberton@vancouversun.com