The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PX }2 Around the world 1 find that the Waterloo Region is well known. Someâ€" times it is because of our multiâ€"cultural heritage, sometimes because of our interâ€" national partnerships, but moreâ€"oftenâ€" thanâ€"not it is because of the outstanding reputation of the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University ... There are literally thousands of men and women who recall appreciatively their years of training at our universities. And of course, our communities are more internationally aware because of the continuing presence of foreign students ... Each year, Canadian universities and colleges welcome thousands of students from all regions of the world into their academic â€"communities. Today, enrollâ€" ment has peaked at 38,000, confirming that foreign students are increasingly attractâ€" ed to Canada by their perception of the quality of our postâ€"secondary institutions. Certain types of advanced training and education are simply unavailable outside the Western world. Canada is able to help alleviate global inequalities by providing education and research experience to international students. This education includes the development of skills, the THE PARTIAL FRENCH IMMERSION PROGRAM Parents of kindergarten children are presently being asked whether or not they want to enroll their children in the Partial French Immersion Program offered by The Waterloo County Board of Education. This issue raises many conâ€" cerns and generates much discussion each year. In this column, I shall attempt to provide some information about the Partial French Immersion Program and address some of the concerns which arise each year. Background: The Partial French Immersion Proâ€" gram was introduced in September, 1977 by our Board. It began in ten schools with eleven classes at the grade one level. As a result of initiating new classes in grade one each year since and continuing the program into subsequent grades, children are now actively inâ€" volved up to grade six. Plans are in place to offer the program at the secondary school level if there is sufficient enrollâ€" ment. Aim: To provide a program which can lead to bilingualism for those pupils whose parents place a high priority on profiâ€" ciency in Canada‘s two official lanâ€" guages. Objectives: 1.To enable students to acquire the four skills of language learning; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 2. To develop a positive attitude towards the learning of a second language. Concerns: 1. Class Size The size of a grade one class is 30 pupils. There is usually a decline in class size in subsequent years because some parents move out of the community or because students drop out of the program. 3. To encourage the understanding of Frenchâ€"speaking people, their language and culture. It is important to remember that when class size falls below an enrollment of 18 students, there are three alternatives which are considered to be viable; namely, mixed grades, consolidation WALTER McLEAN ELIZABETH WITMER School views Foreign students carry with them the stamp of their culture, unique perspecâ€" tives, and a variety of experience unknown to most Canadians. Campuses have grown into "the world in microcosm". The participation of foreign students in the classroom contributes to the broadening of the view Canadian students have of the world. The contacts established around the globe benefit our trade and diplomatic relations, not to mention the funds expendâ€" ed by students in our communities. transmission of knowledge, and the ad vancement of research. However, despite the moral and eco nomic reasons for encouraging the continâ€" uation of academic exchanges, for shortâ€" sighted reasons we have chosen to limit, and even discourage, the flow of overseas students to many of our universities and colleges. All too slowly we are realizing that foreign students generate benefits for our country ... (with transportation), and the Englishâ€" only program at the home school. Parental input is considered when deterâ€" mining the appropriate alternative. 2. Transportation Transportation has been, and will continue to be, the responsibility of the parents of all children entering the Partial French Immersion Program. Where consolidaâ€" tion of classe‘s has taken place, transporâ€" tation has been provided by the Board, subject to the approval of the Director. Many provincial studies have been conducted in recent years to determine the achievement levels of French Imâ€" mersion students and most of these studies indicate that the child in a French Immersion program attains the same level and/or higher level of achievement as his/her English counterâ€" part in the English portion of their studâ€" ies. Trustees have recommended that anâ€" other evaluation be conducted at the grade six level in the near future to make certain that the level of achievement of the immersion and nonâ€"immersion stuâ€" dents remains the same. This concludes my discussion of the Partial French Immersion Program , but I would be pleased to respond to any further questions that you may have. Unhappily, we have not comprehended that if we wish our open, democratic society to prosper, we must expose others to its benefits and opportunities. The presence of foreign students is an imporâ€" tant investment for future global contacts An evaluation report of grade three French Immersion students was preâ€" sented to the Board in 1980. The reason for the evaluation was that many educaâ€" tors and parents were of the opinion that students who were taught Mathematics and Environmental Studies in the French language were being short changed. However, the Evaluation Reâ€" port revealed that there is no significant difference between the achievement of immersion and nonâ€"immersion pupils. Evaluation of French Immersion Students 3. Selection of Subjects to be Taught in French In grades one to six, the ratio of French to English was 50 â€" 50. In grades seven and eight, instruction in French will be given in Language Arts, History, and Geography and will be less than 50% because Mathematics will no longer be taught in French, but in English. _ World in microcosm and coâ€"operation. Many highâ€"profile offiâ€" cials in other countries were educated at our postâ€"secondary institutions. One of them, who studied at McGill University in Montreal, visited Canada recently as the Minister of Energy for his country. He proudly called himself ‘"an Indonesian with Canadian content"‘. He is only one in a network of friends whom Canada has around the world ... While eligibility rules and enrollment criteria are necessary to establish a proper balance of international students in our universities, I believe we pay an excessive price when we place prohibitive barriers to a Canadian education ... Migher tuition fees were recently imâ€" posed even though foreign students alâ€" ready pay double the fees of Canadian students. Nevertheless, there is no concluâ€" sive evidence that the future of academic exchanges has been seriously threatened by the skyrocketing fees. Yet, if quotas are implemented or fees hiked much higher, declining enrollment would seem immiâ€" l&Â¥nda Keller, the Foreign Students Counsellor at the University of Waterloo, indicates that enroliment is already down The original intent last Friday was to skip up to MacGregor public school at 10: 30 a.m., grab a quick photo of Const. Joe Bistricky giving students a lecture on rights and freedoms, and skip out just as quickly. An hour and 15 minutes later, 1 was still sitting in the gym at MacGregor, fascinated not oply by Bistricky‘s ability to motivate the youngsters in lively discussion, but also by a compelâ€" ling slide show that hushed the gatherâ€" ing afterwards for a period of sober soulâ€"searching. These were not criminals, or even likely candidates to lean toward wayward ways who Bistricky was addressing. _ Thev‘re the mass that in the not too distant future will populate our city and carry on its tradition of exemplary citizenry. Bistricky, one individual in the 19â€" member Community Relations Branch of the Waterloo Regional Police Deâ€" partment, has been giving lectures in the schools for two years now. He is following in the footsteps of those whose mandate was (and still is) to enlighten our future generation as to the evils in our society (as well as the good) and how to avoid being trapped by such vices. Most effectively, Bistricky reviewed a drug lecture he had given to the same group as grade seven students last year, then illustrated the various rights granted us through the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As any good teacher does, Bistricky was adept at drawing responses from nearly all students in the class as with a talented blend of humor and communicative skills, he clearly defined the democracâ€" tic nature of our system â€" and the But if ever there was fleeting thoughs in any of those bright young minds to go easy street some day by straying from the paths of righteousâ€" ness, the slide show entitled To Jail or Not To Jail had to put them to rest. WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1983 â€" PAGE 7 CAMPBELL The impression In a day and age when universities are cutting back in staff and services, a source of revenue can be found ‘"‘contracting‘"" to provide higher education for developing countries. The Canadian Bureau for Interâ€" national Education, on whose Board of Directors 1 have sat for over a decade, is involved in this vital economic and culturâ€" al effort. This academic year 890 contractâ€" ed Nigerian and Libyan students are in 38 universities and community colleges. The total value of such programs to the Canadian economy has been estimated at 8 million dollars. . from the Winter term of 1982, slipping from 993 to 984. She predicts that the trend will hold through the present term. At Wilfrid Laurier University 5.39% of underâ€" graduates and 3.5% of graduate students are from abroad. Within the region, a total of 1084 students have made their tempoâ€" rary home with us. Foreign students enrich our communiâ€" ties. They contribute to economic and academic growth and I see this educationâ€" al collaboration as one of the most effective means of building strong relaâ€" tionships within the global community. Its very existence enhances the image of the police department within our community. The students are all the better for it, as is an outside observer, whose photo intentions soon became an extcemely secondary assignment. _ But however effective Bistricky‘s talk, it could not match the compelling nature of the slide show. Effectively employing the technique of color vs. black and white, the presentation To Jail or Not To Jail expertly dealt with the preference and beauty of freedom through scenic imagery as opposed to the harsh black and white indignities of incarceration. Oh, how clear the message as scenes switched quickly from autumn leaves and flowing streams to dirty dark cubbyholes, vacant stares and haunting poetry from those confined to life in inâ€" stitutions. perils we invite through its violation. The service provided Friday at Macâ€" Gregor school, as it is every day by the WRP Community Relations branch throughout the region, is an invaluable lesson above and beyond the three R‘s of daily learning. Don‘t get the impression that Const. Bistricky‘s talk was of the *"Scared Straight" ilk so graphically filmed in a New Jersey institution several years ago and brought to our television screens. In that instance, it was petty offenders, parole violators and those convicted for the first time who were force fed by hardened lifers the despiâ€" cable atmosphere of many penal instiâ€" tutions â€" the atmosphere they would be a part of should they not opt to correct their wayward inclinations. At the beginning of the slide show., customary grade school chit chat was prevalent, but by the end of the presentation, nary a word was spoken as an audio voiceover spelled out crystal clearly what we can expect if we stray from the straight and narrow. Not pretty. Not pretty at all.