[EDLING:221] Better Deal for Languages Program Needed

[Francis M. Hult]

Better Deal for Languages Program Needed

Dunja Lukic
Guelph Mercury (Ontario Canada)
Mar. 30, 2004
OPINIONS
A9

It was a busy Saturday morning as children streamed into St.
Francis of Assisi School following the March break, rested
after a week free of homework and one precious Saturday of
uninterrupted sleep.

The announcements buzzed with a rendition of Happy Birthday
in Greek, and the gym was already fully booked with classes
needing space to practice cultural dances for the upcoming
spring celebration.

As the morning wore on, two musicians arrived to play a
sprightly Serbian tune on guitar and accordion to accompany
some 15 young singers, as curious onlookers from the
Mandarin Chinese class looked on.

The chalkboards in each of the 20 classrooms were covered
with foreign scripts and characters, scribbled by young and
unpracticed hands. At noon, a slew of parents rushed in,
chatting in Vietnamese, Polish and Arabic, waiting for
their children to emerge with evidence of new letters
learned after a busy morning at the International Languages
Program.

Founded in 1977 by Carmela Nini, the program has grown from
one Italian language class to an enrollment of 660
elementary school students representing over 20 different
ethnic groups. With support from the Wellington Catholic
District School Board, the program has offered the children
of our community an incredible opportunity to learn about
themselves and to learn together about one another.

But the program is undergoing great changes. These changes
may endanger the unity that has been established through 27
years of hard work and dedication on the part of the
program's staff, volunteers, community members and Nini
herself.

Her love of her community and the children with whom she
comes into contact is evident through more than just her
spirited smile. For over a quarter century Nini has proven
herself to be a generous, warm and dedicated individual.
She truly understands the value of multicultural unity in a
world that is becoming more violent and increasingly
intolerant.

Several weeks ago Nini resigned as the International
Languages Program administrator. It was the finale to a set
of school board decisions that have left staff and
volunteers fearing for the program's future.

In combination with high International Languages Program
enrollment numbers and board commitments to other
organizations in need of weekend space at Guelph's Catholic
elementary schools, the Wellington Catholic District School
Board decided to implement a 'split-model' delivery. Under
this model, the program would host classes at two separate
sites and at two different times.

The implications of this mandatory change are significant.
Last year, as the program was forced to move out of St.
Peter school on Westwood Road to St. Francis of Assisi
school in Guelph's west end, four language classes were
lost. One hundred and fifty children were no longer able to
attend the program.

St. Peter is located in an ethnically diverse neighborhood
where children from nearby townhouses and apartment
buildings could easily walk to their classes.

With each move, enrollment numbers in the International
Languages Program have declined due to school locations
that were inaccessible for new Canadians without vehicles.

Dividing the languages program between two locations and
times would pose a logistical problem for immigrant parents
without the transportation means to drive their children to
a school several kilometres away. It would be a hardship to
newly arrived residents who, as a result of long working
hours and odd shifts, are unable to devote an entire day to
taking their children to and from language classes at the
opposite end of town.

Practicality aside, the proposed program changes serve to
contradict the values of unity and integration that were
the focus of the program since its inception.

Don Drone, director of education for the Wellington
Catholic District School Board, has said that "students get
together for group celebrations only two or three times a
year," suggesting that proposed changes would not
significantly affect the delivery of the program.

Perhaps he is not aware of the incredible learning
environment that is created through consistent, everyday
interaction between children of over 20 different
backgrounds as they greet each other in hallways and play
together during recess.

He need only drop by on a Saturday morning to witness
Guelph's children transcend linguistic and cultural borders
through ordinary contact, taking tolerant and multicultural
values far beyond biannual group celebrations.

If, through the new "split-model" delivery, the program
becomes segregated and difficult to access, how will the
International Languages Program succeed in promoting unity
and encouraging our children to grow together?

There is a possible compromise in which both the
International Languages Program and the school board can
benefit. Simply imposing changes on the program indicates a
lack of willingness to compromise in the interests of a
positive solution for both parties.

Why not relocate the languages program to a high school,
such as Our Lady of Lourdes, built to accommodate over
1,000 students, in an ethnically diverse neighborhood?

Not only would the program remain accessible, it would also
allow for the continued promotion of multicultural unity.

In a world where newspapers carry stories of brutal racial
confrontations, and television screens glow with malicious
news of ethnic tensions, the unity of the International
Languages Program needs to be nurtured and supported more
than ever.

Dunja Lukic is a Grade 12 student at Centennial Collegiate
Vocational Institute, a volunteer in the International
Languages Program at St. Francis of Assisi School and a
member of the Guelph Mercury's Youth Editorial Board.


>>From the Language Policy Resource Unit News Archives
http://www.asu.edu/educ/epsl/LPRU/newsarchive/mar04.htm