There are growing concerns from New Brunswick teachers over planned changes to French immersion.
On Friday, the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association took to Twitter to express its concerns with the current proposal.
The association, which represents 6,000 teachers, said it wants the province to “slow down” and “restart” its plans.
“It’s very obvious that their plan is not ready at this point. We certainly would recommend restarting,” Connie Keating, president of the association, said in an interview.
Under the changes proposed last fall, anglophone students in kindergarten and Grade 1 would spend half of their day learning French and the other half being taught in English on subjects such as math, reading and writing.
Students would continue the 50/50 split throughout their elementary school years. Once they reach middle school, they would spend 40 per cent of their day taught in French and 60 per cent in English.
They would then have “opportunities for enrichment and advanced studies in the French language” once they enter high school.
More than 1,000 people attended public consultations in recent weeks, with the mast majority speaking out against the proposed plan.
The changes are supposed to go into effect in September, but Keating said the timeframe is too short.
“With a system-wide change just seven short months down the road, this will be very destabilizing and it’s very unrealistic for our students, our parents and especially for our staff,” she said.
Keating said schools are currently facing a “crisis” when it comes to a lack of certified teaching staff.
In addition, the pandemic has caused “significant learning gaps,” she said, and has led to increased anxiety and mental health issues in schools.
“Let’s refocus, let’s properly resource schools for the needs that are in them,” said Keating.
The Higgs government has suggested it is open to changes, and Keating said she hopes to see that.
In addition, the long-time educator said they want to see political interference taken out of education.
“We have a tendency to see these 10-year education plans come out. Then there’s a change in government and it gets thrown out,” said Keating.
“We realize that a topic as important as education will always be political, but we really can’t reduce it to partisan football, and that’s what we see.”
— NBTA (@NBTeachersAssn) February 3, 2023
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