Changes too drastic for us
I am a former resident of Chatham and think that your readers might be interested in the following letter I write to MLA John Foran, Minister of Public Safety.
Mr. Foran: I am writing to you to express my opposition to your government's decision to eliminate the Early French Immersion (EFI) program in New Brunswick. I believe delaying teaching our children French until Grade 5 is a mistake. I am not alone in this belief, for many parents and language education experts from across the country have also criticized this decision.
You have shown a strong commitment to improving the life of our children, in your policing career, your membership on the District 16 School Board, and on the "Youth at Risk" committee, among other accomplishments.
What if this is a mistake, as the experts say it is?
Surely we should not be rushing into something that is such a drastic change. Also, why is the government basing its decision on a report that has shown to be so poorly done and includes basic statistical errors? There is a certain irony in this, as it is supposed to facilitate improving the education system. Mr. Bernard Richard, the provincial Ombudsman, has suggested the decision be delayed a year, and I would suggest his advice be heeded.
No doubt there are many improvements that can be made to the current system. I would like to see EFI continue and I would like to see special needs children supported in the EFI program. The children currently in the Core French program could still have Intensive French offered to them in Grade 5, as the designers of the program originally intended. If this is not a resource issue, as the minister of education has claimed publicly several times, then why was this not considered? We also need to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds before they hit the school system.
Thank you for considering these options.
Geoff Martin
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Your article addresses one of the basic logical errors plagung the government's position in this dispute: the either/or fallacy, the deceptive and distracting assumption that only two options exists when in fact, as you have pointed out, there are many ways in which the currently flawed system can and must be improved without scrapping the a successful and in-demand programme.