Thank you very much for your comments.
Yes, indeed, it is one of the great challenges I see in the continuum of second language learning in Canada. The immersion program is generally recognized as a great success, but the dropout rate is a real concern. There are also school boards that still limit access to immersion. In British Columbia, people are still spending the night lining up to get their children a place. As a way of allocating places in a school system, I find that to be absurd.
I have even heard cases of school counsellors advising students to drop out of immersion programs in order to get better grades. They tell them that universities look at nothing but grades. One immersion student told me that his teacher had told him not to do the exam for the immersion course, but to do the one for the basic French course. That would give him better marks, which is all universities are interested in. I see that as encouraging mediocrity.
That is also why, after one of the studies we did, I continue to promote the idea that it is up to the universities to send the message to high schools to give more weight to students who have chosen a more demanding, more difficult, program. It is extremely important for universities to send that message. They also have to provide opportunities for second language learning at university level, partly because the Government of Canada, the biggest employer in Canada, needs bilingual employees.
In almost every province I have visited, I have been to universities in order to push that message. When I talk to federal agencies, I tell them about the importance of their role as recruiters in universities. Of course, I also have meetings in high schools where I push that message too. It is extremely important.