New Brunswick parents and teachers are scrambling to adjust to the government's announcement on Friday that early French immersion programs in the province will be eliminated this fall.

While French immersion teachers worry about their jobs, some parents are calling the francophone school district asking if they can enrol their children.

Saint John resident Tim Jackson said Monday he wants his children to be fluent in French. His daughter is already in her third year of French immersion. His son, Simon — who's in kindergarten now — planned to join her in the fall.
 
"Since his sister's been in school he's been proudly telling anybody who will listen that he already knows French from listening to his sister, and [he] will count out a few numbers and say bonjour and au revoir," Jackson said.

He said his family may try switching into the francophone school system.

The superintendent of the province's French school district, Anne-Marie LeBlanc, said Monday there is lots of room for more students in the francophone schools, but Simon, for instance, may not be qualified to attend.

"One of the parents would have [to have gone] to French schools, which is not the case in this case. But, there is a question of the child having sufficient knowledge of the language to attend French school, which could be Simon's case."

LeBlanc said that if Simon can improve his French before the fall, he may qualify to attend a francophone school.

Jackson said he's prepared to try whatever it takes to make sure both his children learn both official languages.

Teachers need retraining

The head of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association, Brent Shaw, said he's already heard from early-immersion teachers who are worried about their jobs.

About 90 Grade 1 French-immersion teachers will be affected, and need to be retrained, he said.

"I  think one of the biggest challenges will probably be making sure that the training happens. Although there's a very strong commitment there, I believe that the minister would not even be looking at this without the financial commitment to go ahead with training and resources," Shaw said.

The superintendent of the large anglophone School District No. 2, Karen Branscombe, said the district will work to ensure the former early immersion teachers are happy with their new job descriptions, so they don't leave the province for opportunities elsewhere.

Branscombe said the scrapping of early French immersion is the most significant change in the province's education system she has seen in her career.

Education Minister Kelly Lamrock announced on Friday that the government is accepting the recommendations of a government-commissioned report on French language education in English schools.

Beginning in September, parents will no longer be able to enrol their children in early French immersion. The core French program, which currently makes the language a mandatory subject in school, beginning in Grade 1, will also be eliminated.

French second-language programming will be replaced with an intensive French program, which will require all Grade 5 students to take five months of the language. Students and parents will then have the option of either enrolling in a late immersion program in Grade 6 or beginning a more extensive core program.

All students will also be required to take French until Grade 12 with the goal of having 70 per cent of New Brunswick graduates finishing school with intermediate language proficiency.