New Funding Agreements Announced for French Education

Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps and Nova Scotia Education Minister Jane Purves today announced the signing of two agreements that will fund French language education in the province.

The agreements continue the partnership of the federal and provincial governments in promoting minority and second official language education through the Official Languages in Education Program. The three- and four-year agreements include detailed action plans for building on existing French programs and introducing new ones.

The multi-year action plans are a new approach in official- language education. Previous agreements were negotiated from year to year. The new approach enables both levels of government to make longer-term plans and involves community and education partners in the planning process. All interested individuals or community groups are invited to consult these plans and follow their implementation.

“Our partnership with the federal government has helped us to develop strong, quality, French education programs for both francophone and anglophone Nova Scotians,” said Ms. Purves. “Securing federal funding for several years will further our ability to build on these programs and encourage knowledge of both official languages among our students.”

“The linguistic duality that characterizes us is profoundly rooted in the heart and soul of this country,” said Ms. Copps. “This new investment demonstrates the Government of Canada’s commitment to promoting the growth of both linguistic communities. Our partnership with the Government of Nova Scotia today marks a new step in this direction. The development of multi-year action plans will provide greater transparency in the management of funds from the Official Languages in Education Program.”

The Canada-Nova Scotia Agreement for Minority Language Education and Second Language Instruction provides $11,661,000 in federal funding and $23 million in provincial funding over three years for French programs in the public school and post-secondary education systems. This agreement replaces a similar 1999/2000 agreement and runs from 2000/01 to 2002/03.

Funding from this agreement supports French first-language and second-language teacher training, as well as programs such as immersion, at all school boards, Université Sainte-Anne and Collège de l’Acadie. It also funds summer camps and bursary programs for students and teachers, and a provincial centre for French language education resources.

Also announced under the same agreement was a funding commitment to build a new learning centre of Collège de l’Acadie. Scheduled to open in September 2002, the new building will be located next to the Carrefour and École Bois-Joli. It will replace the current learning centre on Tacoma Drive, Dartmouth.

In addition, $699,500 from the federal government is being matched with provincial funds through this agreement for special projects such as early literacy development, upgrades of learning resources and updating curriculum.

A further $5.2 million over four years from each of the federal and Nova Scotia governments funds the Canada-Nova Scotia Special Agreement on Investment Measures for Quality Education in the Language of the Minority. This agreement is designed to address the fact that it costs more per student to operate French first- language programs in an English-majority setting. It also replaces a similar agreement which expired in March 1998 and runs from 2000/01 to 2003/04.

This agreement specifically funds French first-language initiatives such as additional resources for libraries, reading recovery, professional development for teachers, and continuing and distance education for the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial. It also provides curriculum development support for the Université Sainte-Anne as well as programming and technology upgrades for Collège de l''Acadie.

These agreements support more than 4,000 young people from French minority communities throughout Nova Scotia who study in their first language at 20 elementary and secondary schools each year. The agreements also support French second language learning for more than 87,000 students, including approximately 10,000 in immersion classes.

Federal funding for these agreements was provided for in the 2000 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework. The provincial portion of the agreements was included in Nova Scotia’s 2001/02 budget.

Nova Scotia’s action plans for delivering French-language programs are available online at http://doc-depot.ednet.ns.ca/olep.html .