244 THEISLAND ACADIANS

ACADIAN SCHOOLS AND TEACHING IN FRENCH

With the arrival of family allowances and government subsidies for the improvement or construction of schools, Acadians, like other Islanders, became increasingly interested in education. However, studies carried out at the beginning of the 1950s, showed that Acadian children were leaving school at a very early stage, namely between Grades 6 and 9*°. A committee of the Acadian Teachers’ Association was instructed in 1950 to examine the teaching of French in Acadian schools. It recommended that parents be made aware of the impor tance of education:

The first problem, upon which all others hinge, is to wake up our people and make them understand how important it is to send their children to school. How can we solve this problem? It would appear that the only solution is an intensive campaign carried out not only by teachers, but also by the clergy and other groups and individuals who know the value of education. To borrow acommercial expression: “We have to sell the importance of education”. (TR)*°

The problem of teaching in French was becoming more and more acute. There was still a scarcity of qualified francophone teachers which meant that many Acadian schools were forced to hire English- speaking teachers. In addition, the Department of Education had no program for teaching French. The Acadian Teachers’ Association thus took the initiative and formed a committee to prepare such a program. It was distributed to the Acadian schools in 1952. A major problem still remained, however. Since the program was not recognized by the Department of Education, it was not compulsory and teachers did not always use it.

It should be noted that the Education Committee of the Saint Thomas Aquinas Society, formed during the 1940s, united with a similar committee in the Acadian Teachers’ Association to avoid any duplication. The resulting joint committee took charge of the program for teaching French and the French competitions in the Acadian schools. In addition to continuing its program of loans and scholar- ships, the Saint Thomas Aquinas Society launched a student bursary program in 1953. It was designed to help get well-trained, licenced teachers for the Acadian schools. One of the conditions for receiving a bursary stipulated that the student agree to take summer courses