Public consultations begin Monday on proposed changes to French language learning.
Education Minister Bill Hogan will answer questions during a YouTube livestream at 7 p.m.
Four in-person consultations have been scheduled throughout the province over the next two weeks.
They include the Delta Beauséjour in Moncton this Thursday and the Delta Saint John next Tuesday. Both take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
In addition, two virtual consultations will be held on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2, also from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
You can also submit your feedback by emailing consultation.eecd.edpe@gnb.ca or by filling out an online survey by clicking here.
Under the proposed changes, anglophone students in kindergarten and Grade 1 would spend half of their day “engaged in exploratory learning in French” starting in September.
The other half of the day would be taught in English on subjects such as math, reading and writing.
Students would continue the 50/50 split of French and English learning 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.
Hogan has reiterated that there will be no changes for students entering Grade 2 through Grade 12 in the fall.
“All of this was designed with minimizing disruptions for students already in the education system,” he said when unveiling the proposed changes before Christmas.
A summary of feedback from the consultations is expected before the end of the winter, with the final framework for the program to be unveiled early in the spring.
Follow
