Can I Homeschool in English?
The language law in Quebec has limited access to an education in English since the late 1970’s. For those of you unfamiliar with the issue, yup, we have “language police” here in Quebec. The intent of the law & its associated limitations was to preserve the French language and to encourage both anglophones and allophones to learn to speak it. I won’t get into the constitutionality or efficacy of the law here. That is a subject for another time, and perhaps another forum.
Let’s just say that if you’re concerned about all the schools in Quebec teaching in French, this simply isn’t the case. There are lots of English schools in the province, especially in the Montreal area. The issue, however, is whether you get to send your kids to one of them. One of the measures implemented in the language law was to require that anyone enrolling a child in an English school produce a certificate of eligibility to access English-language education. That little piece of paper is so precious, I know of at least one family who have framed the certificate and hung it on the wall!
If you are new to Quebec and you are coming from outside of Canada, in all likelihood you are not eligible to send your kids to school in English. If your family has lived in Quebec for generations, but no one has ever been educated in English, chances are you will have to send them to school in French. There are some exceptions, but basically it’s not easy to get that little paper for your kids unless you were educated in English somewhere in Canada.
It is important to note that the language law applies to public institutions, and as such, does not apply to homeschooling. If you are a homeschooler moving into Quebec, or if you are withdrawing your child from a French school, you may have been told that you are not permitted to educate your child at home in English. Rest assured, this is simply not true. You may educate your child at home in the language or languages of your choice.
Here is the official statement of the ministry of education (the MELS):
[L]’enfant non admissible à recevoir l’enseignement en anglais, en vertu des dispositions de la Chartre de la langue française, peut recevoir, en anglais, son enseignement à la maison puisque ces dispositions sont inapplicables dans ce cas.
My translation:
The child who, due to the provisions of the French Language Charter, is not eligible to attend an English language school, may nevertheless receive instruction at home in English; the provisions of the Charter do not apply to homeschooling.~ La Scolarisation à Domicile, Orientations, Projet; MELS, Mai 2005
The document continues by saying that parents can register for homeschooling with either the English or French school board in their region, according to the language of instruction. (This registration is, however, a hot issue. Many feel this is not required by law.)
We are also told that, as is now the case with private education since the legal loopholes have been closed, homeschooling in English cannot be used to establish eligibility for public education later.
Folks who may benefit from this option:
- Anglophones and allophones entering Quebec from outside Canada, who would ordinarily have to send their kids to French school, and who are concerned their children will not be able to keep up with their classmates;
- Francophones without eligibility certificates, who would like their children to benefit from earlier exposure to English instruction or from a bilingual or English immersion format that is not available through the local public French-language school;
- Anyone with a child who seems to struggle a great deal with the French language, but who has no specific diagnosis of learning difficulty or other disability that may grant him eligibility, and who would therefore be required to send this child to school in French.
If you choose this option, do keep in mind that if you ever need to return your kids to public school they will have to attend a French school. It is wise to provide some French instruction!
The bottom line: If you are not ordinarily eligible to send your children to English school you have a legal right to give them an English education by opting to homeschool.
Update: I’ve just re-read Sonya’s post on this subject at Montreal Homelearners. The advice from AQED is worth reading, particularly if you have approached an English board about homeschooling & been refused for lack of the eligibility certificate. Check it out here (and thanks for the shout out, Sonya!)
This work was created by Ruby of Freehold 2, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
Excerpts copyright quoted authors. Please visit their sites to read more, and respect the terms of their copyrights. Thanks!
The content of this blog is offered in the spirit of sharing information and ideas, and all factual information is accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of writing. Please be aware that laws change and new requirements may be imposed on homeschooling parents. I am not an expert. You should consult legal counsel for the best advice on homeschool legalities and your rights as a home educator.
rose said,
October 29, 2008 @ 9:42
I tried searching the French version of the MELS website, but could find no trace of the document mentioned above, regarding the legal right to homeschool in English. Can you direct me to the exact link where I could find it? It would be such a valuable statement to have access to! Thanks a lot!
Freehold2 said,
November 5, 2008 @ 10:04
Rose,
The document “La Scolarisation à Domicile” is not made available to the general public by the MELS. It was sent out to school boards by the MELS and was referred to in some of the public documents that discussed homeschooling, but it seems it was treated like some sort of top secret material that should not be leaked to the public. I remember a discussion in which a homeschooling parent said she had sneaked a peek at a copy her friend (a teacher) had been given, but the friend was actually quite afraid to let anyone know she had given access to it.
I got my copy from AQED’s web site a little while back. Many of the posts that were on the old web site disappeared when they switched over to the new site, but they may have restored them since the last time I looked. Take a look around their discussion forum & see if you can’t find anything in their “Legal” rubric. Pierre Campagna had some good posts there about the various legalities of homeschooling that are well worth reading if you can find them.
Please keep in mind that Bill 101 addresses the language of instruction for public schools and for accredited private schools only. From the English text available at the OLF web site:
“Instruction in the kindergarten classes and in the elementary and secondary schools shall be in French, except where this chapter allows otherwise.
“This rule obtains in school bodies within the meaning of the Schedule and in private educational institutions accredited for purposes of subsidies under the Act respecting private education (chapter E-9.1) with respect to the educational services covered by an accreditation.”
~ Charter of the French Language, Title I, Chapter VIII, paragraph 72
As you can see, the law does not require that children be educated in French but rather that schools adopt French as the language of instruction. A homeschooling family is not a school under the law, and therefore is not required to teach primarily in French. That being said a homeschooled child must be given an equivalent to school education, which assumes that the child would easily be able to integrate into a public or private school with few or no adaptations. If your child has no certificate of eligibility integration means going to a French school.
Based on that fact some school authorities may try to tell you that you must homeschool in French, but you can counter that if you were arriving from outside the province your child would have been taught in English or perhaps some other language. Any adaptations your child might require if s/he integrated into a public or private school would be exactly the same as those needed by any other student who had previously been schooled in a language other than French. This is not an issue of your homeschooling being inadequate, and as your homeschool is not a school under the law Bill 101 does not apply to you.
Hope this helps!
Ruby