Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - September 2009
New statistics show that French is no longer the majority language in Montreal public schools.
Analysts are not overly surprised by the new figures, citing several factors that are contributing to this trend including the high number of immigrants in the city as well as increased francophone migration out of the city, toward the suburbs.
One of the largest factors, however, is the high enrollment of francophone students in private, rather than public schools – a move that may, in fact, result in reversing the aims of Bill 101.
Bill 101, passed over 30 years ago, was drafted and implemented in an attempt to protect the French language in Quebec as well as certify it as the language of immigrants to the province.
However, as French parents take their children out of the public system, the data demonstrates that the language leaves with them.
Some experts are concerned, however, not due to political or linguistic issues, but rather about the effects of these changing demographics on Quebec’s educational system itself, where curriculums and teachers are shaped to target a francophone demographic that is no longer the majority.
The dropout rate in downtown Montreal high schools – those which are most frequented by immigrant children – is over 30 per cent. This figure might reflect a deeper problem facing a city whose priorities may need to shift away from the age-old language debate toward creating a bright and advantageous future for the new faces of this country.
Source: The Gazette
