It's important to understand that these are two completely different paths. We have French school boards, which are intended for francophones. There's a path to follow. These people must have some knowledge of French at the outset. Mr. Dorion mentioned that we were concerned about the quality of what was offered when people who didn't necessarily have the same level of French were integrated into the system.
I'm going to talk about my field, immersion. The Toronto District School Board and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, which are English school boards, offer a program in English, so one path, as well as core French. So there's 30 or 40 minutes of French a day. We are also offering another path, French immersion. That means that, starting in kindergarten, the days take place in English and French equally. In the first year, 80% of the day is spent in French and 20% in English.
The proportion increases over the years, until grades four and five, when the proportion is 50% on both sides. At the secondary level, about 25% of courses are in French.
Since these students started using French very early, they passed a threshold that allows them to converse, to communicate in French. In addition, the various subjects make it possible to learn that language.