The New Brunswick government will not grant the provincial ombudsman's request to delay changes to the French second-language program until 2009, says Education Minister Kelly Lamrock.

Ombudsman Bernard Richard announced on Thursday he will be conducting an investigation into the government's decision to eliminate the early French immersion program.

Richard said he has received more than 200 complaints from parents regarding the cancellation and asked the government to put off eliminating the program until 2009 to allow him time to complete an investigation and so parents could adjust to the new programming.

Lamrock, however, said the government will move forward with its plan.

Beginning in September, students will not receive French-language education until Grade 5, at which point they will go through a mandatory intensive five-month program. In Grade 6, the students will then have the option of continuing with an immersion program or taking French as a separate subject that would be mandatory until high school graduation.

Need for change, minister says

"We believe there is an urgency," Lamrock said. "There is an urgency to reach out to the 80 per cent of kids that don't have access to quality bilingual education, and there's an urgency to address the streaming that's put too many kids in learning environments where they can't learn."

Lamrock said Richard had the chance to make changes to the province's education system in the 1990s when he was education minister in Frank McKenna's Liberal government.

"He believed it was not worth changing a program that worked for a few in order to bring about changes for the many," Lamrock said. "Admittedly, this government, based on the results of that era, sees it differently. That we believe the kids who have been left behind are worth asking the few to make a change."

Richard said he is concerned that eliminating early immersion could set back French and English relations in Canada's only officially bilingual province.

Investigation warranted: ombudsman

The number of concerns that have been raised by parents, accusations of a lack of public consultation and the impact the change will have on families with children already accepted into the immersion program for September make the investigation warranted, said Richard.

Delaying the implementation until 2009 would only be fair, he added.

The government is not willing to waste another year, said the minister. "A year in the life of a child is an awfully long time," he said.

Children of New Brunswick have waited long enough for a decent education where all students have the same chance to improve such basic skills as reading and mathematics, he said.

Investigating matters of government administration do fall within the mandate of the ombudsman's office, but Richard can only make recommendations to the government. He said he expects to have his investigation completed and a report ready by June.

The government will co-operate with the investigation, Lamrock said.