French immersion class hasn't had a French teacher for 3 weeks

An Abbotsford, B.C., mothersays her daughter's French immersion class has been without a teacher for three weeks.

Jolene Hill says her daughter, who is ina Grade 4 class atcoleSandy Hill Elementary, told her during the second week of term that her teacher was moving away.

She hasn't been taught any French since, Hill says.

"We were told that they were working on the situation, and I honestly thought it would just be a few days," she said.

"Unless you are in it, you really have no idea of the gravity of the situation," she added, speaking to the provincewide shortage of French teachers.

The B.C. government has acknowledged the shortage, and reiterated thatthey are addressing the issue.

"It's an issue the previous government failed to address," a statement from the B.C. Ministry of Education said.

"We are working with school districts to fix the problem and recruit more French-speaking teachers."

Recruitment efforts

In April, the ministry sent a delegation to Europe in thehopes of signing government-to-government agreements with France, Belgium and the Netherlands to promote teacher mobility and exchanges.

The province says that effort yielded 14 French teachers who are currently certified and an additional 13 applications for certification that are currently being processed.

The province has alsobegun investing directly in universities to create an additional 74 seats for French teacher education programs across B.C.

But at this point, Hill says families and students are frustrated.

"The children are confused. They're nine and 10 years old. They keep being told there'll be a teacher soon but I think they're starting to get discouraged," she said.

With files from The Early Edition