By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
The Centre des services scolaire (CSS) de Val-des-Cerfs and the CSS de la Région-de-Sherbrooke (CSSRS) became the latest school service centres to cut French language courses for adults, amid a funding shortfall caused by a change in the way the Ministry of Education and Higher Learning (MEES) allocated funding to boards and service centres offering the subsidized courses, known as francisation. The Eastern Townships School Board (ETSB), the Magog-based CSS des Sommets and several school service centres in the Montreal and Quebec City area have also announced cuts to francisation in recent weeks.
Funding was allocated based on student numbers from 2020-2021 and 2021-22, which, as union and school service centre representatives have pointed out, were pandemic years, with relatively low student enrolment; they predated the entry into force of Bill 96, which opened courses (formerly reserved for recent immigrants) to Canadian students.
The CSSVDC will end its entire francisation program as of Oct. 8, costing 20 teachers their jobs, according to Sophie Veilleux, president of the Syndicat d’enseignement de la Haute-Yamaska, the union representing CSSVDC teachers.
CSSVDC director general Carl Morrissette confirmed that the service would be “interrupted.”
“We have offered francisation services for many years, but over the last two years, we’ve had a strong increase in enrolment,” he said. In July, CSSVDC employees noticed there were “gaps” between enrolment projections and funding projections. Like their ETSB counterparts (see article in Oct. 8 edition), CSSVDC staff initially believed there was a mistake. “We talked to our colleagues, and the ministry, and the federation of school service centres, and we had confirmation that the numbers we had were correct,” Morissette said. “We are focusing on a transition for employees and students … we hope we’ll get more funding next year.” School service centres are not the only francisation service providers – community organizations also provide the subsidized, standardized courses in collaboration with the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) – but students may have to wait several months before being placed in a course.
In Sherbrooke, Donald Landry, secretary general of the CSS de la Région-de-Sherbrooke, confirmed that of the 28 classes that were opened at the beginning of the school year, only five would continue for the rest of the year.
“We thought [the funding] could be reviewed [by the ministry] at the beginning of the school year, so we started by offering courses according to demand,” he told the BCN. “After the first session, we realized we had to reduce our course offerings.”
Richard Bergevin, president of the Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement, a provincewide federation of teachers’ unions, said it was “unacceptable” to tell teachers in October that their contracts would end in November, when demand for French courses was “overflowing.”
“The MIFI can’t immediately take up the slack – they are not going to open 200 classes overnight,” Bergevin said. “On Sept. 1, the wait time was four months, and we can expect much longer wait times now. We need to do all we can to get [the MEES] to change its mind in the next two weeks.”
MIFI public affairs advisor Emmanuelle Allaire told the BCN that students whose courses have been cancelled “are redirected to the Francisation Québec registrar. Francisation Québec ensures that these students are given priority in another French learning service in an institution that suits the person, which may be a CEGEP, university, non-profit organization or online courses. Francisation Québec quickly contacts these students concerned to reassure them and inform them that their file is being processed as a priority, that they will be assigned a place as soon as possible near their place of residence when possible and that they will not need to submit a new application for admission.”
No one from the MEES was available to comment at press time.