Teh One Who Knocks
11-27-2011, 12:26 PM
Quebec's largest school board seeks to make yards, halls and cafeterias French-only zones
By Graeme Hamilton - Ottawa Citizen
http://i.imgur.com/DxjID.gif
The playgrounds, hallways and cafeterias of Quebec's largest school board will soon be French-only zones as authorities move to silence other languages - even during recess.
In a bid to ensure its 110,000 students master French, the Commission scolaire de Montreal has announced a new code of conduct declaring French de rigueur at all times during the school day.
Diane De Courcy, the board's chairwoman, said the approach will be persuasive, not punitive.
"There will be no language police," she said. Instead, monitors who overhear children using their mother tongue during recess will simply remind them of the rules.
"If they are automatically switching to another language, (the monitor) will gently tap them on the shoulder - not on the head - to tell them, 'Remember, we speak French. It's good for you.'
"It will be enough to deliver a clear message that French must be spoken, and when we speak it often, we become very good at it."
She said the policy, which will come fully into effect in September, is needed to improve the French performance of students, who increasingly come from immigrant families.
The school board's statistics show 53 per cent of its students have a mother tongue other than French. A poll this fall of 811 parents found 70 per cent agreed with imposing French at all times.
Quebec's Charter of the French Language, Bill 101, requires children of immigrants to attend French-language schools. This has led to generations of allophone Quebecers - those whose mother tongue is neither French nor English - who are perfectly at ease in French. Up until now, the rules have applied inside the classroom only.
But fears French will be swamped by English are not easily assuaged.
This year, the separatist Parti Québécois committed to extending Bill 101's provisions to the pre-university colleges known as CEGEPs if elected, which would prohibit adults from attending the school of their choice.
Pauline Marois, the PQ leader, has even toyed with the idea of applying Bill 101 to toddlers attending subsidized daycares.
Julius Grey, a prominent Montreal civil-rights lawyer, said the school board's proposal is a clear violation of students' rights and would not withstand a court challenge.
"In order to justify it you have to show it's necessary in a free and democratic society, and it really isn't. They have no studies at all. They just have an idea about spreading a message," he said. "That is quite a weak basis to violate rights."
But De Courcy said she has heard little but praise for the plan, which would also apply to children of oldstock Quebecers who "massacre" the language.
"We are not infringing on children's freedom," she insisted.
By Graeme Hamilton - Ottawa Citizen
http://i.imgur.com/DxjID.gif
The playgrounds, hallways and cafeterias of Quebec's largest school board will soon be French-only zones as authorities move to silence other languages - even during recess.
In a bid to ensure its 110,000 students master French, the Commission scolaire de Montreal has announced a new code of conduct declaring French de rigueur at all times during the school day.
Diane De Courcy, the board's chairwoman, said the approach will be persuasive, not punitive.
"There will be no language police," she said. Instead, monitors who overhear children using their mother tongue during recess will simply remind them of the rules.
"If they are automatically switching to another language, (the monitor) will gently tap them on the shoulder - not on the head - to tell them, 'Remember, we speak French. It's good for you.'
"It will be enough to deliver a clear message that French must be spoken, and when we speak it often, we become very good at it."
She said the policy, which will come fully into effect in September, is needed to improve the French performance of students, who increasingly come from immigrant families.
The school board's statistics show 53 per cent of its students have a mother tongue other than French. A poll this fall of 811 parents found 70 per cent agreed with imposing French at all times.
Quebec's Charter of the French Language, Bill 101, requires children of immigrants to attend French-language schools. This has led to generations of allophone Quebecers - those whose mother tongue is neither French nor English - who are perfectly at ease in French. Up until now, the rules have applied inside the classroom only.
But fears French will be swamped by English are not easily assuaged.
This year, the separatist Parti Québécois committed to extending Bill 101's provisions to the pre-university colleges known as CEGEPs if elected, which would prohibit adults from attending the school of their choice.
Pauline Marois, the PQ leader, has even toyed with the idea of applying Bill 101 to toddlers attending subsidized daycares.
Julius Grey, a prominent Montreal civil-rights lawyer, said the school board's proposal is a clear violation of students' rights and would not withstand a court challenge.
"In order to justify it you have to show it's necessary in a free and democratic society, and it really isn't. They have no studies at all. They just have an idea about spreading a message," he said. "That is quite a weak basis to violate rights."
But De Courcy said she has heard little but praise for the plan, which would also apply to children of oldstock Quebecers who "massacre" the language.
"We are not infringing on children's freedom," she insisted.