We struggle just like other districts. We struggle the same as they do. We are, however, very fortunate to have a French university right here in Edmonton, Campus Saint-Jean. Many of their graduates come to us. We also have teachers coming from our main university.
We work very closely with our human resources department, and they do the initial screening. One of the wonderful opportunities that we've developed for our teachers is that, prior to getting a permanent certificate, a new hire will go through what we call a staff language proficiency assessment. It's an assessment that we do of all of their four skill areas to see exactly where they are in their French in reading, writing, understanding, and speaking. They will get a score that will tell them where they are on a scale of one to five .
They can use that information to obtain bursary money from the district to improve their French skills. It can also be used if they feel they need to improve in French culture. Many of our teachers take advantage of that opportunity. Usually, we find that in the summer they will go to immersion programs where they are able to immerse themselves at an accredited university or a place where they are able to use French on a daily basis.
Does that answer your question?