An audit of the international students taking adult education classes at the EMSB showed that many were unable to understand English or French.
Full disclosure here: I taught briefly in that system around that time. One of my classes had only people from China, and the other was more diverse, with Chinese students and local people.
I was teaching a graphic design course, nominally about proofreading, but you can’t teach proofreading for 60 hours so I included aspects of typography and principles of adapting layout to content and using type to create emphasis and convey meaning. It was kind of fun.
The Chinese students were great and they all passed my final exam, which partly tested their comprehension as well as their spelling. In China everyone learns English in school, albeit often a slightly broken-telephone English learned from people who learned from people for whom it wasn’t a first language. Still, they all knew enough to learn from me, and pass the module, even the young guy who seemed to be napping in the back of the class most of the time. I was agreeably surprised.
Yes, some of these folks were probably signed up for the course because it gave them enough educational hours to qualify for permanent resident status. So what? They were willing to put the effort in, and if none of them actually became a graphic designer*, many of the skills are transferable. And my folks can proofread.
Incidentally, I don’t really see where French is relevant to this story, because the EMSB was not giving instruction in French.
*I had one student whose illustration work was topnotch, so I hope he got into video game work, which would suit his style, and a trio of young guys from Chengdu who were already making websites. The EMSB may be at fault but they were not wasting their efforts in the long run.
Thomas H 19:19 on 2021-05-13 Permalink
Isn’t it true that municipalities in Quebec (Canada?) are required to keep their books balanced? I’m hoping someone more enlightened can confirm or deny this old wives tale I’ve been carrying with me for years, but if true, it must mean there have been substantial cuts somewhere in the municipal budget, unless the city has profited over the housing affordability crisis.
Clément 19:58 on 2021-05-13 Permalink
Municipalities cannot run an operational deficit (tax revenus must cover recurring expenses)
But they can go in debt to pay for major infrastructure projects. And then, the repayments on those loans become part of the recurring expenses.
In other words, you can’t pay the groceries with your credit card, but you can have a mortgage for your new public library or your shiny new baseball stadium…
Thomas H 20:08 on 2021-05-13 Permalink
Thank you, Clément! Wow it really is incredible that the city has managed this with that context.
M 09:39 on 2021-05-14 Permalink
$400 million’s worth of budgeted contracts were delayed in 2020, that’s why there’s a “surplus.” If anything, there’s a +$200 million deficit, that’s why the opposition is using the term “creative accounting.”
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/montreal-under-effective-provincial-trusteeship-opposition-charges
Kate 10:13 on 2021-05-14 Permalink
M, a city like this is always having to move sums of money around to adapt to changing situations (e.g., pandemic) and uneven revenues. Where people get confused is that the financing of a city is not the same thing as running a household or a small business, although some politicians positively get high on claiming that it is, because it’s an easy sell to grumpy taxpayers.
If we’d had Coderre in city hall through the pandemic, do you think his accounting would be any less “creative”?
M 14:30 on 2021-05-14 Permalink
I fully understand that a municipal budget is not like that of a household, thanks. And I’m sure the reporter from the Gazette who wrote the article knows that too and clearly explains where there was a shortfall. A surplus in 2020 should be met with suspicion; every level of government has had to spend more with less revenues. “Some” people still get confused about that, apparently.
And it’s not always a Plante vs Coderre scenario.