LIKE many school districts in the province, the Coast Mountains School District has spent the past several years beefing up its skilled trades preparation and training so that Grade 12 graduates are better able to embark upon careers leading to occupations such as heavy duty mechanics, welding, etc.
That’s been partially in response to the need to replace an aging skilled workforce and, driven by liquefied natural gas speculation, the need to ensure that any jobs in this sector are first taken up by B.C. residents.
But there are other skills as well to prepare students for the outside world. One of those is a proficiency in French. This is a bilingual country and the reality is that a second language is an asset in many careers. In the provincial school system, that takes the form of a graduation double Dogwood which recognizes knowledge of French and English.
Coast Mountains school trustees are now considering limiting French Immersion instruction in Grades 9 to 12 with the real possibility the program may not be offered.
Learning a second language is a skill leading to a double Dogwood graduation credential, a very real apprenticeship that’s an asset to a career. Limiting, or worse, eliminating that apprenticeship training would leave this educational path unfinished.
(Full disclosure: Editor Rod Link is the parent of a French Immersion student.)