Ministry of Education
McGuinty Government Advances Francophone Student Success
Permanent Task Force To Help Reduce Assimilation, Retain Francophone
Students
OTTAWA, March 14 - The Ontario government is establishing a
first-ever, permanent Elementary and Secondary French-Language Education Task
Force that will address the unique challenges faced by Franco-Ontarian
students, said Education Minister Gerard Kennedy today.
"Every Franco-Ontarian student deserves an equal opportunity for
success," said Kennedy. "We have established peace and stability and progress
in education. The next step is to solidify real partnerships, particularly in
the Francophone community, to better retain students and strengthen French
culture and language across the province."
To be chaired by the Minister of Education, the task force will advise
the minister on unique francophone education matters - such as promoting
French culture, reducing assimilation and helping to retain francophone
students. Twenty-two prominent leaders from the French-language education
sector and community will ensure broad representation.
In recent years, assimilation has become a major concern for French-
language speakers in Ontario. The francophone population is growing more
slowly than its anglophone counterpart and more francophones are speaking
English at home. In addition, many students who are new to French-language
schools speak little or no French upon arrival.
To help counter assimilation and better instil French culture and
language in young Franco-Ontarians, the government has provided significant
new investments to French-language school boards. In addition, French-language
school boards and their schools have been working with their communities to
develop a local approach to countering assimilation and improving student
achievement and retention rates. Each of the boards has begun developing its
own Aménagement linguistique policy. All policies will be in place by June
2006.
"I'm especially pleased to see an additional focus on French-language
education policy this year, as we mark the 20th anniversary of the French-
language Services Act," said Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs
Madeleine Meilleur. "Our government understands that in addition to its
cultural value, the francophone community enriches this province economically
and socially. This task force ensures that francophones play a greater role in
the overall development of the province."
"Recruitment, retention and the integration of students in the French-
language environment, the delivery of adequate programs, funding and
management of schools, as well as professional development are all challenges
that our French-language education system must overcome over the next few
years," said Paul Taillefer, chair of the Association des enseignantes et des
enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO). "This new task force will allow all
components of the French-language community to work together, with the
Minister of Education, to identify the best solutions to ensure the vitality
and sustainability of our French-language schools."
"The eight French-Catholic school boards members of the AFOCSC will be
pleased to work in close collaboration with Minister Kennedy and members of
the task force," said Dorothée Petit-Pas, chair of the Association
franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires catholiques (AFOCSC).
"The ACEPO is pleased to learn that the task force will start its work
shortly as there are many issues to be resolved to ensure the equivalence of
French-language education," said Ronald Marion, chair of the Association des
conseillères et des conseillers des écoles publiques de l'Ontario (ACEPO).
Disponible en français.
www.edu.gov.on.ca
www.resultsontario.gov.on.ca
Backgrounder
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March 14, 2006
NEW PERMANENT TASK FORCE TO ENHANCE FRANCOPHONE STUDENT SUCCESS
The McGuinty government is establishing a new permanent Elementary and
Secondary French-Language Education Task Force that will help shape French-
language education policy and ensure Franco-Ontarian students succeed. The
task force, which will meet quarterly, will advise the Minister of Education
on unique francophone matters such as promoting French culture, reducing
assimilation and helping to retain francophone students.
The establishment of the task force fulfils a commitment made in the 2005
Speech from the Throne.
Mandate
The task force's mandate is to ensure high-level dialogue between the
Minister of Education, French-language school boards and community partners.
This is part of the government's French-language education strategy and part
of the need for a continuum of high-quality, French-language programs and
services from the early years to Grade 12. The task force will recommend
appropriate strategies to:
- Promote French culture in French-language elementary and secondary
schools
- Reduce assimilation of students entitled to French-language education
- Help retain Francophone students in French-language schools.
The task force will also identify current and emerging trends in French-
language education, recommend research priorities for further evidence-based
inquiry and make recommendations as deemed appropriate to the Minister of
Education, French-language school boards and school authorities and the Centre
Jules-Léger.
More specifically, the task force may provide advice on priority issues
to overcome long-term challenges relative to elementary and secondary French-
language education, including:
- Retention of French-language students until Grade 12
- Strategies to reduce gaps in student achievement for French-language
students, especially in Grade 3 reading and mathematics and on
international mathematics and science assessments
- Strategies to engage parents in a linguistic minority context, in
particular, households where one of the parents is not fluent in
French
- Measures to overcome staff shortages in the French-language education
system
- Approaches related to teacher education and ongoing professional
development
- Opportunities for enhanced collaboration within the French-language
school systems, early childhood services providers, French-language
and bilingual post-secondary institutions, and relevant partners
- Program areas worth closer attention as part of government's
multi-year funding strategy for French-language school boards.
Membership
In addition to the Minister, who will serve as chair, membership will
include twenty-two prominent leaders of the French-language education sector
and community to ensure broad representation:
- Chair of the Association franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires
catholiques (AFOCSC) - Dorothée Petit-Pas
- Chair of the Association des conseils d'écoles publiques de l'Ontario
(ACEPO) - Ronald Marion
- Chair of the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants
franco-ontariens (AEFO) - Paul Taillefer
- Chair of Parents partenaires en éducation (PPE) - Geneviève Folliet
- Chair of the Fédération de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne (FESFO) -
Alain Dupuis
- Executive Director of the Fédération de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne
(FESFO) - Geneviève Couillard
- Chair of the Association des directions et directions adjointes des
écoles franco-ontariennes (ADFO) - Claire Thibideau
- Representative of the business superintendents of the Association des
gestionnaires de l'éducation franco-ontarienne (AGEFO) - Françoise
Fournier
- Union representative for non-teaching French-language schools staff
- Chair of the Conseil des directions de l'éducation de langue française
(CODELF) - Louise D'Amour
- Vice-Chair of the Conseil des directions de l'éducation de langue
française (CODELF) - Roger Paul
- Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa - Marie-Josée
Berger
- Representative of bilingual university programs - Judith Woodsworth,
Laurentienne University
- President of Collège Boréal - Denis Hubert
- Chair of the Association francophone à l'éducation des services à
l'enfance de l'Ontario (AFESEO) - Josée Latulippe
- Executive Director of the Centre franco-ontarien de ressources
pédagogiques (CFORP) - Robert Arseneault
- Executive Director of TFO - Claudette Paquin
- Chair of the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario (AFO) - Simon
Lalande
- Chair of the Union provinciale des minorités raciales et
ethnoculturelles francophones (UPMREFO) - Me Séverin Ndema-Moussa
- Chair of the Assemblée des centres culturels de l'Ontario (ACCO) - tbc
- Chief Executive Officer of the Chambre économique de l'Ontario (CEO) -
Jean-Claude Trottier
Dominic Giroux, Assistant Deputy Minister, French-language Education and
Educational Operations, will be the task force vice-chair.
Student Success Strategy: Ontario's Francophone Students
Reducing Assimilation
The French language and culture in Ontario have been experiencing
increasing assimilation over the years. To help strengthen French-language
education in Ontario, the McGuinty government introduced a new plan -
Politique d'aménagement linguistique - to promote French language and culture,
improve student achievement and self-esteem and help keep young Franco-
Ontarians in French-language schools.
Each of the 12 French-language school boards and their respective schools
have been working with their communities - teachers, parents, students and
community organizations - to develop a local approach to countering
assimilation and to improving student achievement and retention rates. All
local policies will be in place by June 2006.
Funding to Address Unique Challenges and Support the Student Success
Strategy
The McGuinty government recognizes that French-language school boards
face higher costs to deliver education programs and services. The government
provided an increase of $30 million in 2004-05 and is providing an increase of
$20 million in 2005-06 in Actualisation linguistique en français funding for
French-language school boards to help counter assimilation and better instil
French culture and language in young Franco-Ontarians.
Funding was also increased to address administrative issues facing small
elementary and secondary schools, challenges of delivering special education
programs in French and capital funding needs.
Last winter, the Association des conseillères et des conseillers des
écoles publiques de l'Ontario and the Association franco-ontarienne des
conseils scolaires catholiques made a recommendation to the ministry regarding
funding for programs in French-language secondary schools. The ministry noted
the challenges French-language schools face to retain students when they move
from the elementary to the secondary level.
With that recommendation in mind, $6.5 million will be allocated to help
French-language boards provide secondary schools with more staff to offer a
broader range of courses and help francophone students make the transition
from French-language elementary to French-language secondary schools.
This announcement supports the government's Aménagement linguistique
policy and the Student Success Strategy to transform high schools and increase
graduation rates by offering students unique courses so they can customize
their education to their interests and career goals.
The government recognizes that English-language secondary schools are
able to offer a wider variety of courses compared to French-language secondary
schools.
This investment will allow each French-language secondary school to offer
up to six new courses. Across the province, up to 500 new course credits will
be offered in French-language secondary schools.
Providing francophone students with access to a wider range of courses
could better engage, motivate and retain those students, instead of losing
them to English-language high schools.
This investment means an additional teacher's salary for each of the
province's French-language secondary schools and an additional base amount of
$84,804 for each French-language school board.
The $6.5 million investment is part of the $20 million enhancement to the
ALF allocation, announced last spring. The remaining $13.5 million was
invested to implement other ALF programs, including learning resources,
teacher training and support for students.
The increase in funding for French-language boards in 2005-06 will total
almost $70 million. In addition to targeted funding, French-language students
are benefiting overall from smaller class sizes, labour stability, and
cleaner, safer schools.
Disponible en français.
www.edu.gov.on.ca
www.resultsontario.gov.on.ca
Contact Info
For further information: Amanda Alvaro, Minister's Office,
(416) 325-2632, (416) 509-5696 (cell); Steve Robinson, Communications Branch,
(416) 325-2667; Public Inquiries: (416) 325-2929 or 1-800-387-5514;
TTY: 1-800-263-2892
