Richmond schools have had vast experience over many years teaching English as a second language (ESL) to immigrant children.
But recently educators have faced a new challenge: Canadian-born children entering kindergarten with inadequate English skills because they speak a different language at home, said district curriculum coordinator Diane Tijman. Many are the offspring of former ESL students who moved to Richmond from Hong Kong in the 1990s amid uncertainty over the transfer of authority from Britain to China.
This year, almost half of the 1,500 children who started kindergarten required extra language lessons under the ESL program, which is now called English Language Learners (ELL) in recognition of the fact that students who are learning English may know more than one other language. There are also more Chinese-language child care facilities in Richmond, she said, noting that almost three in four kindergarten students were from Chinese-speaking families.
Another trend in Richmond is the increase in the number of ELL children who are enrolled in French-immersion kindergarten.
"Parents who have learned a second language or are in the process of learning English are very aware of the value of learning another language. Many of them believe that to be Canadian you need to be bilingual in English and French," Tijman said in an interview after Statistics Canada released census data showing that almost a third of Metro families speak a language other than English at home.
Another challenge for Richmond schools lies at the other end of the public-school experience, with the arrival of non-English-speaking students in their late teens.
While there are specific programs to help that age group, many won't have time to master English before graduation.
The B.C. Education Ministry provides ELL funding - for a maximum of five years - to schools with designated students 19 years or younger. Older immigrants may be eligible for free English classes through the ministry's adult education program or post-secondary institutions.
After many years of growth, which was at times furious in Metro schools, the number of ELL students in B.C. schools dropped this year by 202 to 58,962, preliminary ministry figures indicate. That corresponds with the continuing slide in total K-12 enrolments in public schools.
The Vancouver school district has been noticing a downward drift for five years, with ELL numbers falling to 11,136 this year compared with 13,093 in 2007. Total enrolment in Vancouver has also softened, with the K-12 count down to 55,275 this year from 58,003 last year.
Associate superintendent Maureen Ciarniello said the reason for the decline in ELL numbers is not known, but may be tied to changes in federal immigration policy and high house prices in Vancouver.
"That's speculative on our part, but we think housing prices in Vancouver might contribute somewhat," she said.
The proportion of ELL learners in Vancouver schools remains among the highest in the province at 21 per cent, trailing only Richmond at 27.8 and Surrey at 22.1, according to ministry reports. But those figures are based on funding and hence don't represent the true number of students who are still learning English, because some take longer than five years, Tijman noted. Nevertheless, she said the ELL numbers in Richmond are generally stable, although there are more international students who also need ELL support this year.
In Surrey, demand for ELL is still growing, but not at the same pace as previously. The district has 396 more ELL students this year than last year, said Brad Bauman, the district principal responsible for education services. As in Richmond, the ELL numbers include kindergarten children born in Canada, he said.
Some Surrey schools still experience waves of newcomers due to sponsorships by community groups or neighbourhood churches. But Bauman said Surrey schools are better able to help non-English-speakers than ever before because of years of experience.
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