Intensive English was made compulsory in Years 5 and 6 at a school in Lock-Beauport

Parents in Lock-Beaufort are ready to change their schoolgirl because they oppose the radical English program that will teach her in fifth and sixth grades, for fear that she will speak French fluently.

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Franுவாois Lelloch and Franz Loyce were surprised to learn that their daughter Andrea would attend fifth and sixth grade at the beginning of the school year in early July, where the intensive English program would occupy half of the school year.

At Ecole Montagnok, there are three other three grade five groups that follow a regular plan. In the sixth year, intensive English is taught to all groups, so Andrea has to dedicate half of her school year to next year.

“Spending very little time in French and focusing on English is like a miracle solution, we only see the disadvantages,” says Mr. Lelloch.

The latter sees it as a “contradiction” with government discourse, seeking to increase French proficiency in Quebec CEGEP and university.

In legal proceedings

During the summer, the parents took legal action to overturn the decision.

As a last resort, they asked their daughter to change schools to follow a regular schedule in fifth grade. “We didn’t do it from the heart, it’s not the best, but we think it’s good for her,” says Mr. Lelloch.

These parents were amazed to learn that the school had the authority to impose such a scheme, even in grade five, with the approval of the governing body.

Since creating a team is in the hands of management, parents have no right to explore this chapter, we explained to them.

However, the parents of the students involved in this particular scheme, which was imposed on a few of the fifth graders, did not comment.

The situation is so absurd that he adds that other classes prefer to follow a serious English program for their child from the fifth grade onwards rather than in a regular classroom.

However, in many other schools, parents are consulted before choosing which students will do extreme English, Ms. Loisel noted, after representing several school service centers.

A request from parents

At the Premiers-Sequence, General Secretary Martin Sonard explains that serious English was introduced four years ago in the fifth and sixth grades, and that the sixth graders in this mixed group were considered to be disabled because they could not follow the program. Like other students.

The school administration should select students with the ability to do serious English “without risking their success” from the fifth year onwards, says Ms. Synard.

“We get a lot of requests from families for the selection of a particular class, but we can’t say yes to one student and no to another. The principal has a real responsibility to create symmetrical committees,” he says, while “ways to do things” related to extreme English can be “improved”. Agreed.

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