Halifax school juggles refugee numbers
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 | 3:12 PM AT
CBC News
An elementary school in Halifax is struggling to accommodate a growing number of refugee students, including 16 who have arrived just since December.
Duc d'Anville Elementary School has 68 children from almost 30 countries in its English as a Second Language program. The students receive half-hour lessons in groups of five to 10 students at a time.
The children sit around a square table that barely fits in the small classroom. For one language exercise, they share photocopied booklets.
"We're reaching such a crux in the numbers," said teacher Diane Walker. "We're getting to the point that we don't have enough chairs, and we can't put anymore chairs in the room."
"We're going to look at graduating children out, whether they're ready or not."
The addition of 16 students since Dec. 1 is straining the school's resources, administrators say. Already, Walker relies on the help of 20 parent volunteers. About 355 students attend the school.
Principal Annmarie MacInnes said 30 minutes of language training is not enough, but she considers it a big achievement in a system where money is always scarce.
"It's the best that we can do," MacInnes said.
Refugees can arrive at any time throughout the school year. The latest group of students come from such diverse places as Afghanistan, Togo and Kosovo.
For some, it's their first time in a classroom.
Mile Mitrovic, the YMCA settlement worker at Duc d'Anville, said the low rents in the Clayton Park neighbourhood are attractive to new immigrants, making the school a popular choice for many refugees escaping desperate circumstances.
"You can imagine the kind of life they have right now. No English, no friends, no education, so they need a lot of help," he said.
Funding for child English as a Second Language programs comes from the provincial Office of Immigration, which divides $250,000 among schools across Nova Scotia. Any additional costs are covered by the school boards themselves.
Federally, Citizenship and Immigration Canada pays only for adult language training.
The Halifax Regional School Board has 16 specialized ESL teachers, some of whom serve several schools.
Board spokesman Doug Hadley said funding for English as a Second Language is already committed for the school year, so if Duc D'Anville is to get extra help, it will have to come from somewhere within the system.
Hadley said the school board plans to try to increase support in the long term but is currently reviewing how it allocates ESL teachers.
"If we need to tweak things in the coming months, we will," he said.
