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Daniel LeScieller

bilinguisme . L'Article 23 réitére une partie fondamentale de cet engagement.
envers la langue et la culture et refléte la vision et la volonté des pionniers

de notre pays. Notre place distincte dans la grande famille mondiale est
dépendante de la fagon dont les gouvernements honorent cet engagement $&
datant de plus de deux siécles, lequel engagement a été renforcé par la

D* parents

November is here... and the school year is well
on its way!

This year again will be busy one with projects,
accomplishments, dreams and work for our
Association and its members.

There are three major items on the agenda.
First, and unfortunately (because the funds,
the energy and the ressources in general
would be better used in the classroom where
it counts the most) the court action we have
to continue in the face of the incomplete
School Act. Then the Projet éducatif
francophone. And finally the parent’s place
(bothcollectively and individually) inthe overall
decision making process of the educational
system that is being put in place.

Court action

Another historic moment for Francophones
of British-Columbia took place this summer
as the provincial Legislature passed the
amendments to the School Act on July 28. It
was something about which to rejoice: the
government was finally recognizing, in an
act of law instead of through regulation, the
rights of Francophone parents to a specific
educational system.

It is certainly a step in the right direction, but
we're not there yet! Our rights have been
recognized; now we must ensure that they
are respected in order to attain the results that
our students need and which will help them
on their way to being fullfledged citizens.

There are those who say: «The parents are
never satisfied! What more do they want?
They are always complaining! It’s never
enough for them! They are always asking
for more... Enough is enough.»

To them, I say: « That’s right... and for good
reasons!» What we are demanding is no
more no less what it is our right to have. As
long as a system which answers the needs
of our youth is not put in place, we will
continue, because the ravages caused by
imperfect educational systems are rampant
and the consequences for the Francophone
community are devastating.

«Survival» is still the key word in Francophone
education across Canada, regardless of the
«steps forward». The ever-growing exodus of
our secondary students to Anglophone
programmes is obvious proof. The court cases
won by the parents, (who have always been
the ones to obtain gains in education for
Francophones), the actions, the progress in
the other provinces are «grist to our mill»,
here in British-Columbia. Inversely, our
actions here will help feed the causes of
parents elsewhere in Canada trying to obtain
the respect of their rights..

Judgments rendered in court make for
necessary jurisprudence; there are no
miracle remedies when we face governments
who do not have the political will to act!

Projet éducatif francophone

Regardless of the appearances and the doubts,
I sincerely believe that our youth (and I have
two of them - grades 8 and 12) really want to
be «schooled» in French. We «simply» have
to provide them with the environment needed
in order for them to grow without being
penalised because they are registered in a
Francophone programme... which happens
too often and is the main reason so many
move on to Anglophone programmes so
easily at the secondary level.

The Projet éducatif francophone will be the
result of a partnership of collaboration,
teamwork on the part of the different
partners in education: parents, teaching
staff, principals, youths, members of the
community, whose common vision and
respect of the roles and responsibilities of
each will be the light which will guide them
around the pitfalls. The Projet éducatif
aims to put into effect the school’s mission
and to make the student its focal point.

The youths themselves have given us the
challenge. If you have not yet seen their
video Mission possible, I strongly
recommend it.

The parent’s place

This is a broad subject but of great
importance. What the parents wish for their
children, as far as Francophone education is
concerned, must make a difference inthe end.
As parents part of an Association, we must
work out and set up a mechanism which will
make our ideas, wishes, wants and
requirements the basis from which the
Conseil Scolaire Francophone makes its
decisions. Consultation of the parents,
both at Forum 97 last February and the
Parksville retreat at the end of May, must
lead to the concrete formalization of the
Projet éducatif and a definition of the roles
and responsibilities of the parent in the
overall decision making process. As
parents it is your duty to get informed, to
become aware and especially to be heard.

For me, my role as a parent is «multiple»:
dad, first, but also educational, cultural,
economic, political, social, identity
enhancing....What about you?

I wish one and all a good school year.

CyberSciences

www.cybersciences.com

Produit par le magazine Québec Science, ce
site contient des forums de questions, des
nouvelles bréves sur l'actualité scientifique,
des grands dossiers thématiques, etc.

Musique Plus
www.musiqueplus.com

Office de la langue francaise
www.OLF. gouv.ca/index.html

Découvertes
http://www.radio-canada.com/
decouvertes

Pour consulter les dossiers abordés au
cours des émissions.

Conseil scolaire francophone
http://www.csf.be.ca