Linguapax
Montreal schools ban children from speaking English, even in the playground
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:42 AM on 27th November 2011
The largest school board in Quebec, Cananda, is set to make playgrounds, hallways and cafeterias French-speaking only.
The Commission Scolaire de Montreal is bringing in the new code of conduct to improve the French language skills of the 110,000 students in the city.
The policy will come fully into effect in September, the board's chairman Diane De Courcy said.
She said it is needed because students are increasingly coming from immigrant families, the Ottawa Citizen reports.
The policy will not be enforced by punitive measures.
If monitors overhear children using their mother tongue during recess the students will simply be reminded of the rules.
Mrs De Courcy said: 'There will be no language police.
'If they are automatically switching to another language, the monitor will gently tap them on the shoulder to tell them, "Remember, we speak French. It's good for you".'
'It will be enough to deliver a clear message that French must be spoken, and when we speak it often, we become very good at it.'
The school board says 53 per cent of its students do not speak French as a first language.
A recent poll of 811 parents found 70 per cent agreed with the idea of speaking French at all times.
Until now the rules of Quebec's Charter of the French Language, Bill 101, have applied only inside the classroom.
The bill stipulates that the children of immigrants to attend French-language schools.
The separatist Parti Québécois wants to extend Bill 101 to colleges, which would mean adults may not be able to go to the school of their choice.
PQ's leader Pauline Marois has even suggested applying Bill 101's rules to toddlers attending in day care.
The school board's move, however, has met with some resistance.
Montreal civil rights lawyer Julius Grey said: 'In order to justify it you have to show it's necessary in a free and democratic society, and it really isn't.
'They have no studies at all. They just have an idea about spreading a message. That is quite a weak basis to violate rights.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066735/Montreal-schools-make-playgrounds-hallways-French-speaking-zones.html