Many French immersion students in Williams Lake are expected to start a new school year without a teacher, said Tammy Watson, president of the Williams Lake Chapter of Canadian Parents for French B.C. and Yukon.
“I have three children and two of them won’t have a teacher when school starts,” Watson said Thursday.
“This has been an ongoing problem, but this year is by far the worst.”
Watson said the program is short 40 per cent of the teachers it needs to teach the 160-plus students registered for the 2018/2019 school year. School District 27 is still looking to fill positions for Kindergarten, Grade 5, Grade 6 and Grade 7 in Williams Lake as well as the Grade 3/4 position at 100 Mile House Elementary.
She said CPF has been advocating both the federal and provincial governments to train and/or recruit more French teachers in recent years in anticipation of the shortage they saw coming. She also feels a lack of recruitment and incentives offered by SD 27 hasn’t helped the situation.
“We are the hardest hit district in the province,” Watson said.
SD 27 Mark Wintjes recently spoke about the issue with the Tribune’s sister paper, 100 Mile Free Press.
“Our district experienced some retirements, which caused the immediate shortage. We also know that the provincial (and national) shortage of French immersion teachers increases the options for mobility. That can result in teachers leaving our district for positions,” Wintjes said.
“As a district, we are ramping up our use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms to assist us in our recruiting and retention initiatives while we tell our story of the quality learning environments in our schools. We are working to improve and update the marketing of our district so that anyone who views our website will be able to gain an appreciation of the phenomenal area that we live and work in.”
If a school in the district cannot successfully hire a French teacher, SD27 has the ability to hire individuals who are not certified teachers but have sound knowledge and experience in a specialty. However, this is a highly regulated process under the direction of the Teacher Regulation Branch, Wintjes said.
Related: French Immersion teacher shortage: 100 Mile House no exception
Watson said they have been made aware of the option, however, she doesn’t agree with the short term solution.
“I don’t feel that’s adequate or sufficient,” Watson said. “There’s no consistency. It’s just not a great environment.”
Watson said after requests, they have a meeting scheduled with Winjtes next week to discuss how to move forward with the school year.
Every year the French immersion program in Williams Lake has gotten stronger and stronger, with solid numbers in almost all classrooms.
Not French speaking herself, Watson said her family chose the program for its lifelong benefits.
“It’s an amazing gift to give your children a second language,” Watson said. “Being able to speak French opens so many doors.”
Read More: Is your family ready to head ‘back to school?’ bc211.ca can help!
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