At the Special Public Meeting held on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, the Board of the Conseil scolaire francophone de la C.-B. (CSF) voted in favor of a resolution that will improve the services offered at the secondary level for many parents and children across the province. The Board has mandated that the Superintendent and the Secretary-Treasurer begin the gradual closure of heterogeneous secondary programs beginning in 2020-2021, which means that the 2020-20201 school year will be the final year in which the CSF will permit students to begin a heterogeneous secondary program. The slow and gradual closure of these programs will allow the 2020-2021 class the possibility of completing their secondary studies. The CSF will gradually increase the number of grades offered in its homogeneous schools, and, where applicable, will make the capital requests required to achieve this.
For context, the CSF operates 14 secondary schools, only six of which offer all of their programming in French (with the exception of other secondary language education). The CSF continues to operate eight "heterogeneous" secondary programs in which only a few courses (between two and four) are offered in French in English-language secondary schools, students receive the rest of their education in English.
In light of the BC Francophones' historic victory before the Supreme Court of Canada in June 2020, parents of Sechelt, Nanaimo, Prince George, Powell River, Campbell River, Nelson, Penticton, and Revelstoke have the right to an "educational experience that is substantively equivalent to the experience provided to the majority, regardless of the size of the school or program in question". Parents in these communities have the right to far more than two to four courses taught in French, and the CSF has called on its administration to improve the educational experience offered to them.
"I am so happy with what we accomplished last night for our children and parents throughout the province", stated Marie-Pierre Lavoie, president of the CSF. "As my colleague Marie-Christine Claveau stated so well during our meeting yesterday, we are extremely proud of the students who have graduated from our heterogeneous secondary programs, but we must offer much more in the future. We want to give students the education that they have a right to, which means much more than just the few courses currently offered in French in heterogeneous secondary programs," she added.
For more information
100 - 13511 Commerce Parkway
Richmond Colombie-Britannique
Canada V6V 2J8
