Good morning.
My name is Daniel Dion, and I am the board chair of the Association locale des enseignantes et des enseignants fransaskois. Our association represents more than 200 teachers in the Conseil des écoles fransaskoises, in Saskatchewan, the only French-language school board providing French-language education to approximately 2,300 students, from junior kindergarten to grade 12.
Before I paint a picture of the environment our teachers have to work in, it is important to highlight how far French-language education has come in Saskatchewan since the establishment of French-language school management, in 1995.
A watershed moment in my development as a francophone happened in September 1997, so 28 years ago, when I was only 12 years old: the opening of a French school in the small village of Zenon Park. This school allowed me to continue my education in French, in my community, without any compromise. My brothers and sisters did not benefit from that right. I closed the loop after high school and university, when I accepted a teaching position in the very same French‑language school board where I was a student. Now, after 18 years of teaching, I find myself before you as a witness. I am here because of the profound direct impact section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms had on me as a young Franco-Saskatchewanian. Despite all the progress that has been made, there is still a lot of work to be done to right the wrongs of the past and deal with the inequality of opportunity francophone students face to this day.
In education, we work with people. Some have bigger needs than others, and it falls on teachers to meet those often complex needs using the tools and resources at their disposal. However, like many French school boards across the country, we are affected by the current teacher shortage. It is felt more acutely in rural schools, where geographic, cultural and professional isolation remain an issue. Therefore, faced with limited options, we sometimes need to fill those teaching positions with local community members who don't have a teaching degree.
To ensure the desired learning outcomes, teachers must have access to the necessary educational resources. Unfortunately, the lack of resources created for academic programs in Saskatchewan has been a constant challenge since the first Franco-Saskatchewanian school was opened. Since our school board is so small, it is not profitable for publishers to create and sell resources designed for our academic programs. This means teachers use resources created for academic programs in other provinces, or even countries, and adapt them to suit their needs, and this requires a lot of effort. One can understand why teachers are frustrated when they see the amount of resources created for equivalent English-language academic programs.
Like all other school boards, we do not have a homogeneous student body. Many of our students have learning difficulties or socio-emotional issues, or face psychological barriers or language issues, just to name a few. Although this is not unique to French schools, the tools and resources available to us are rare and hard to find. As an example, wait times for a student who needs to be assessed are very long, sometimes up to two years, because of limited access to psychologists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and other professionals who work in French. This can seriously delay these vulnerable students' progress.
The challenges we face with our infrastructure also need to be mentioned. Many of our rural schools are old and are in need of major repairs. Meanwhile, some of our urban schools are overcrowded.
Finally, I would like to salute our teachers, who persevere in their efforts to transform students' lives despite all the obstacles.