EMSB chairperson Angela Mancini says the quality of French taught at the board's schools equals that of French-language schools. (CBC)In an attempt to counter declining enrolment, the English Montreal School Board is launching a marketing campaign aimed at promoting the quality of French taught in its schools.

The campaign includes a promotional video featuring students at the board's schools doing their best in the language of Molière.

The goal is to help win back some of the estimated 14,000 students across Quebec who are eligible for English schooling but are currently enrolled in the French-language system, officials said.

Since 2001, the board’s enrolment has dropped by more than 5,000 students even though, according to board chairperson Angela Mancini, the EMSB offers a quality education in both English and French.

Students are offered three different levels of French courses, Mancini said.

"You see them reading books in French and in English, so they're going back and forth," Mancini said. "They come out flawless in terms of what they're learning, and I think that the language that we teach in our school is just as good as in the French sector."

Bilingualism has become a necessity, Mancini said.

"I think that … we have to get away from this idea that you have to learn just one language in order to learn it well," Mancini said. "I think children have an ability to learn more than one language."

Zayna Brochu, right, a Grade 5 student at Dunrae Gardens Primary School says she is toughing it out in her French class. (CBC)Students at Dunrae Gardens Primary School in the Town of Mount Royal admit they found the French program difficult at first.

"If you tough it up, you'll get it," said Grade 5 student Zayna Brochu.

The choice to send her child to an English school wasn't obvious, admitted parent Patricia Willis.

"It was very hard," she said. "I did think about the French, but I thought also we live in a bilingual society, and they need both."

An improvement in the quality of French classes is making Diana Bronson reconsider her options.

Bronson's daughter, Emma, has been attending French school despite her eligibility for English education.

"If the options increase and there is more French in English schools, then it becomes more of an option," Bronson said.

Registration for the 2010-2011 school year at the EMSB starts Feb. 1.