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On Monday, the provincial anglophone board of education passed a motion calling for moratorium on the further implementation of Policy 309 until an ongoing review of it is completed.
FREDERICTON -- Education Minister Bernard Theriault said yesterday he's not about to impose a moratorium on the further implementation of New Brunswick's French second-language instruction policy.
"We will have to study the matter and respond," he said in an interview. "At this point, it is too early to decide whether to impose a moratorium."
On Monday, the provincial anglophone board of education passed a motion calling for moratorium on the further implementation of Policy 309 until an ongoing review of it is completed. A discussion paper is anticipated in January 1999, followed by consultation and a response by the minister that spring.
As part of the 1998-99 provincial education plan, the Education Department is undertaking a review of Policy 309, adopted in April 1994.
Officials attending the provincial board meeting had informed Theriault of the motion but he had yet to receive it formally. He expected the department would solicit the views of school districts on French-language instruction.
The department is undertaking a review because province-wide oral proficiency testing of students still taking French in Grade 12 have consistently shown that most students, regardless of instructional program, have not reached stated program goals.
In another motion adopted Monday, the provincial board sought a policy to ensure new teachers hired in anglophone schools are sufficiently proficient in English. It was responding to concerns that some francophone teachers instructing French immersion are insufficiently fluent in English.
Theriault endorsed the logic behind the motion, noting that it reflected a parallel policy taken by most, if not all, of the former francophone school boards.
He noted that both school systems are having difficulty recruiting teachers capable of instructing in the second language. In his hometown of Caraquet, for instance, some anglophones are teaching English in French-language schools.
The minister believed teachers should be hired strictly on ability, not their linguistic background.
Copyright CanWest Digital Media Apr 22, 1998