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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1984-11-07, Page 5i Deareditor; f. 11 +9 - We, the Concerned Citizens for Better Baste Education; would like to express the concerns of the silent majority of 'Huron County school supporters. The overall long-term cost of a total early French Iinitiersion program for a basic rural community, such as we have, would be ineelculable. •Using a city's cost could simply not oinpare with our situation, A government initiation grant, which is for only one year at present, acts as a lost leader to gain support for a French program which comes from the same source as the ongoing maintenance costs —"the taxpayers pocket." At this particular time, it's no secret that the board of education is having difficulty finding the money to support the programs we already have. A changein the Federal Government may ch,ar#ge attitudes on providing grants for such projects, We are already seeing cost- cutting Measures and if the county embarked on such a program, they could be stuck with the full cost. If people are interested.,in French, they should pay the full cost themse • - s, It should be' r'tted out there isn't equal educational opportunity for our public school students in the program as it exists. The "have not schools" have had to accept the board's statement that we simply cannot afford it at this time. The present core French teachers are not qualified to teach French Immersion so new teachers must be hired or the present teachers must be upgraded. We won't stand by and watch the urban schools ask for yet another expensive program, while the rural children have to get along the best they can. Home Economics and Industrial Arts DPINION GODERICIB SIONALnSTAR, W P EMA,X,PV ''tM,B 7,. ane don't have right to decide 1 .4' TTER taught throughout the county would be a more worthwhile use of the taxpayers' dollar. There are children with special talent and interests in physical education who would - benefit from improved : facilities and teachers. We're sure there are many other educational opportunities people would like to see their children participate in before we spend an exorbitant amount of money for a program only a few rich people's children , will participate in. If a program were implemented with the limited interest in the program, it's more than probable the program wouldn't exist any more than five years. It would be a lot of money wasted. In a basically rural community, such as we have, the splitting up of our classes will contribute to the decay of community life. Already, we have the Catholic Separate School, the Christian School and the Public School. If we split off another group, which would ultimately be the case because eight separate rooms at the elementary level 'would be required, we will destroy the unity a consolidated school system brings to the community. Already in this decision-making process, we have created two classes of people. The people for French feel their children will be better off with a French Immersion education. They must feel that our children without it will be educated in an inferior fashion. The present core French program seems to be adequate. A student who completes this program should be well equipped to decide whether further education in French would be the right decision. Parents for French advocating this program must feel that their pre-school children have the mental capabilities to cope with the program. We don't feel that parents alone have the right to decide what their children should take at this age. A child pushed into a program who fails would feel badly about himself for many years. A child dripping out of a program would surely Nave to repeat their year in the English program to catch uperhaps the child would be sent to a school ere none of his friends would be going. The psychological stress put onto a kindergarten child in an immersion program would in our opinion be insurmountable. A rural child must get up in the morning and get on the bus, many of them before 8 a.m. They don't return until after 4 p.m. and some not until 4:30 p.m. This is a long day for a child to be away from home without facing a teacher who doesn't make any sense to the child all day. Some children would cope, many others cannot and these children could develop psychological problems they will carry with them for the remainder of their lives. Is it fair for parents to expose a child to these potential risks? Furthermore, how can parents assist children with their basic subjects such as math, reading etc. when they are using a different language? Their core subjects will be lacking. In twenty years a whole new elite class of citizens will emerge, bringing in more division and discrimination in our society. There will be the Bilingual then the francophone and anglophone. Where is our lJnglish Heritage going? Will an English speaking Canadian be doomed as a second class citizen? The double standard in this country is unfair. Why would we be expected to welcome French into our every day lives when the province of Quebec fines store owners for advertising in the English Language? In conclusion, may we point out the reasons for our disapproval of this subtle infiltration of French into our system. The community cannot afford a new expensive program in an already overburdened. education system. The new programs being implemented by Bill 82 in September, 1985 will also be a big expense for the board. French Immersion should not be a top priority in an English speaking country. English is the universal language of the world. The percentage figures given at the previous meetings on the amount of French being taught in the overall Ontario population and Canadian population would show that Huron County is already far ahead in the amount of French being taught. We are presently enrolling students in higher levels of education with less than adequate basic skills in reading and grammar for the careers they have chosen to pursue. May we also reflect that there has been a lack of consideration by the Board of Education for the rural population in holding crucial meetings at harvest time, a result of which will have an impact on all of us for generations. Concerned Citizens For A Better Basic Education Sesame Street should be returned to television station the country of Canada is simply a place It is my understanding that the station's from which cold air drives into the United explanation of this deprivation to our States. children is that this childrens' programme does not bring in revenue. Where I sympathize with CKNX's difficulty in keeping corporate body and soul together; and where I acknowledge the station's right to drop any programme at their arbitrary whim; surely they also have at least some responsibility to compensate to our children for the programme which does not reflect either our interests nor the interests of oto• children. Our children have a right to day time programming without violence and vice. It is also my understanding that a great Sincerely, many people wanted to view both.'All In the Reverend and Mrs. Family' and 'The Phil Donahue Show'; but Robert J. Roberts. Dear°Editor: I am writing to express concern over an issue which is not earth -shattering; but which is annoying. Recently all Ontario and Canada was shocked by the murders of police; murders which are a mirror image of many of the U.S. television shows available almost every night of the week. The world of the American television shows to which we all are exposed is a world in which violence is inevitably a valid and moral response to life's problems. It is a world in which automobiles drive themselves (Knight Rider); illicit, immoral and bizarre love affairs seem quite normal (soap operas, `Dallas', `Knot's Landing', etc. etc.); and There are, obviously, some excellent American television shows. One of the best is 'Sesame Street.' Yet is a programme which seems to be universally loved by children and not a few adults; it is a programme consisting of education, enlightening and entertaining material with Canadian content. This is the reason I have such difficulty in understanding why our local television station, CKNX, has dropped this children' show. From my study of the Television Times; CKNX now offers but a few childrens' shows a day, none of which seem to be of the stature of `Sesame Street'. that in order to show these two very popular shows, Sesame Street had to be dropped to fulfill Canadian Content requirements. `Sesame Street' has a 10 percent Canadian Content; but I had always thought Archie Bunker lived in the Bronx New York and not Belgrave, Ontario. I am reasonably sure that this letter will do nothing to bring back Big Bird for my own children or the children of my Parish; but perhaps a few 'readers will consider the implications of dropping `Sesame Street'' and write CKNX requesting its return for our children. UNICEF makes life better for needy children of world To the Editor: For over 35 years UNICEF has been help- ing to make life better for the world's most needy children. Recently UNICEF has adopted a new and very hopeful low-cost-in- itiative ow-cost in- itiative known as GOBI which is intended to create a "Child Survival Revolution." The four -point program includes Growth Charts, Oral Rehydration Therapy, Breastfeeding and Immunization. It has been hailed as the greatest medical breakthrough since the discovery of an- tibiotics. For example, . through Oral Rehydration Therapy the death of a child suffering from a diarrhoeal infection can be prevented - at a cost of only 10 cents for a package of rehydration salts. As Honorary Chairperson of -the Ontario UNICEF fundraising campaign for 1984, I am writing to ask your cooperation in infor- CHRISTMAS DRAW 1 IN 1 Enter Rieck Pharmacy's Christmas Draw And You Could Win A Toshiba MICROWAVE OVEN OR PORTABLE STEREO 1 DRAW TO BE MADE DEC. 24 AT 1:00 P.M. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY ENTER AS OFTEN AS YOU WISH.... 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