French immersion schooling for children is wildly popular in Ottawa, a government and tourist town where bilingualism can be key to finding a job. So it’s not surprising that a proposal by Ottawa’s largest school board to tinker with its early French immersion formula for students in kindergarten to Grade 3 has provoked fierce debate. The changes proposed by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board will boost the amount of English-language instruction those children receive, including a switch to learning math in English. Students in the English program will be affected, too. If the plan is adopted, starting in 2016 all kindergarten classes will be bilingual. Students will be taught half...
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