Education Minister Brian Kenny says parents wanted early immersion

The president of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association, Guy Arseneault, said there hasn't been any meaningful consultation with the provincial government about the return to an early entry point for French immersion. 

"In all fairness to this minister, he's new on the job and he has definitely not done it. He hasn't had time, because it was already in the works," said Arseneault.

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"The former minister didn't want to listen as far as I'm concerned. He had a mandate that was going in Grade 1 regardless of what he heard out there and that's as plain as I can put it."

Education Minister Brian Kenny said they did talk to teachers about the plan. 

"There are some that are saying no. There are some that are saying yes. It all depends on who you speak to. We've heard both sides of the equation on this one," said Kenny. 
 
Kenny says the push to return to the early entry point for French immersion was led by parents and a desire to improve second-language training in the province.

"I think parents wanted it. I think New Brunswickers are looking at this. We are a bilingual province and I think it's important that we offer French second language learning opportunities for our students," said Kenny. 

"We want to have the best results for our students and the best tools available for our classrooms."

Restoring the entry point for early French immersion to Grade 1 was a high-profile promise in the Liberals' election campaign in 2014.

No testing

Arseneault said more time should have been taken before making the decision. He said changing the entry point is disruptive, and the government should have looked at the results from the initial change before moving forward.

"Let's look at the outcomes of this program. What outcomes are better? Let's get the data," said Arseneault. 

The first group of Grade 3 immersion students from 2008 are now in Grade 9 and will not be assessed until they graduate from high school.

But Education Minister Brian Kenney said there's no need to wait. He said earlier is better. 

"We know that studies have always shown that the earlier the better this person starts to learn a second language they're going to be able to use this more later in life," said Kenny. 

Improvements still needed

Kenny said the government is working on a plan to improve access to French immersion in rural schools. 

He said they will be looking at interest level in those rural communities and will go from there. 

Arseneault said he's concerned about what happens to the composition of classrooms in French immersion.

He said the higher achievers often end up in French immersion, while other children, who may have a tougher time, get put into the anglophone program by their parents.  

"You can say that let's make sure that the students in both programs have an equal opportunity throughout, and that they're well supported throughout," said Arseneault.

"Class size is an issue. We have behaviour challenges. Those are issues in some of the classes."

Kenny said there is no specific plan in place, yet, to address those issues, but the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is working on it.

"I don't know specifically myself as the minister, but I do know they are working to deal with this," said Kenny.