@ - Wednesday, February 21, 1990 - North Shore News

ual cultures call for

national school system

THE NATIONWIDE brawl over language that is splitting
the country need never have developed at all if, over the
years, our education system had done a proper job in that

department.

And since languages fie at the
root of Canada’s unity problem,
it’s arguable that those who
betrayed the Canadian dream are
her parish-pump educators.

Did you ever pause to wonder
how come al] those German,
Polish, Hungarian, Czech and
Romanian types interviewed on TV
speak such good English? [t's sim-
ple. Europeans and British, whose
schooling is national, have long
included one or more foreign lan-
guages as compulsory major
courses throughout the secondary
years, if not earlier.

No nonsense about ‘‘electives.’’
With a dozen different 1ongues
babbling right next door, the abili-
ty to communicate is treated as
serious business.

As aresult, British and Euro-
pean students learn languages the
lasting way — first a thorough
grounding in grammar and struc-
ture, then ongoirg reading, writing
and, eventually, speaking practice.
Skill-learning comes before skill-
using. That means the basic skill
remains, even if temporarily rusty
from non-use, and can quickly be
brushed up. |

An immigrant from across the
Atlantic finds it incomprehensible
that schools in Canada — a
quarter of whose people are Fren-
ch-speaking — have never attachec
similar importance to teaching the

other official language.

French immersion in Grades 1 tc
4 is NOT an effective long term
answer because it stresses ‘‘tin-
stant’’ communication ahead of
lasting language skills. So while six
to 10-year-olds chatter to one
another flueatty, it’s often in
pidgin French that lacks a solid
foundation of grammar and struc-
ture. Bad habits, as in any lan-
guage, are hard to eradicate and
when immersion is phased out in

the later school years, the
preponderance of unilingual
English schoolmates threatens ever
the earlier fluency.

In a bilingual country like
Canada the schools are the key to
linguistic and cultural harmony. It
can’t be imposed by force on

3

adults whose own schooling lacked

the needed educational approach.
That approach calls for French in
all Anglo schools and English in all
Quebec schools to become man-
datory and intensive courses
throughout a student's school ca-

|

freer — thereby attracting top
calibre language teachers.

It won't happen, of course, until
policy-making for our parochial
system dating back to the ‘‘little
red school house™’ is caken out of
the hands of the provinces and
placed under uniform national
jurisdiction. If, us they say.
“education is everyone’s
business,"’ if must clearly be the
nation’s busiuess.

Educating Canada’s young citi-
zens in our dual cultures is becom-
ing much too important (o leave to
the 10 local branch plants of those
cultures!

VALENTINE chivalry (as col-

league Joy Metealfe might say)
blossomed Saturday as the officers
of North Van's 6 Field Engineer
Squadron held their annual
“Ladies Dining-In Night,"' the sole
Occasion in the year when wives
and dates get to dine formally in
the mess. Long skirts a tad snow-
dampened, some 25 of them grac-
ed the Armoury on Forbes,
together with scarlet jackets and
black ties — including Mayor Sack
Loucks and veteran Brig. Gen.
F£.D. Danby. Five courses and a
string of toasts later, presided over

Photo submiticd

GEARING UP FOR SCIENCE WORLD'S giant fundraising **Auction °90°° Thursday are Capilano MP Hon.
Mary Collins and auction chairman Buz Knott, seen here in and on their two favorite items that will be going on

the block.

Keep up pressure

HE FRUSTRATED Deep Cove parents of
children attending Burrard View Community
School must keep the pressure on the politicians
if the project to build the new Cove Cliff school is ever
to move from the community wish list and into the real

world.

Last week’s school district move to forward ar-
chitect’s drawings of the new school to the Ministry of
Education for approval means nothing without cold
hard cash from the provincial government.

Cove Cliff was initially scheduled to be up and open
by September of this year. But Jast year’s funding

delay by the provincial
timetable out the window.

government tossed = that

Now hopes are being raised by the school board that
the $3.5 million-project could go to tender as early as
April, pending ministry approval of the architectural

documents.

False hopes? The abysmal record of attempts to re-
alize Cove Cliff school gives Httle cause for optimism.

The one and only constant here is the sorry state of
the school presently housing the children a new Cove

Cliff school would serve.

The children deserve better.

Publisher

Peter Speck

Feet WAC DO NEAT a we ST VANE LE

Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw

Associate Editor

North Shore News, feu: deste. ?
ea Panes and ta
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Entire contents

Noel Wright
Advertising Director Linda Stewart

SUMED AS » WEDME SEAS - DRTAY

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Nortp Varcouser BC

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AY east.

by Major John MeKay, the unit
C.O,. the eveniog closed with the
Squadron's traditional Valentine
“cards”’ — a long-stemmed rose
for each lady wuest.

DATEBOOK: This being Heritage
Week. West Van will celebrate its
past in style Saturday, Feb. 24,
with a 2-4 p.m. party at its first
designated heritage building, the
Old Ferry Terminal at the foot of
i4th. The program, emceed by
Ald. Carol Ann Reynolds, includes
the Ernie Addicott jazz group, the
Legion color party, readings by
school students, words of wisdom
from a batch of celebrity
heritage-boosters and a heritage
exhibition in the building itself —
rally round, Tiddlycove! ... Open-
ing Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7:30
p.m. in West Van Secondary
theatre is **Pajama Game*’ by the
school’s performing arts students.
It repeats Feb. 23-24 and March
1-3. For tickets call 922-3931 ...
And Science World's big fundrais-
ing ‘*Auction '90°" goes Thursday,
Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. in the Hyatt
Regency — with a weekend at the
Kennedy Space Centre, art works
by Toni Onley, and walk-on roles
in 21 Jump Street among over 400
items on the block. Tickets include
@ gourmet meal and all proceeds
support Science World's ongoing
operation, Call 687-8414 Thursday
a.m, tor further details.

kee

WRIGHT OR WRONG: If the
path goes uphill, you’re usually on
the right track.

: NEWS phote aul McGrath
BOTH BIG and Little Brothers had a reason to smile Monday as 15 North Shore Big Brothers were
recognized for completing one year’s service in the volunteer organization. The ceremony, held at Delbrook
Community Centre, was attended by both Little Brothers and their mothers.

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