PASSEPORT FRANCOPHONE COMMUNAUTAIRE PROJECT

By Denise Leduc, Director Pedagogical Services, CSF

Passeport francophone communautaire
This is a CSF initiative designed to encourage the retention!
of secondary school students.

Project Description and Purpose

The Passeport francophone communautaire project is a new CSF (Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique)
initiative designed to encourage the retention of secondary school students. The purpose of the project is to increase student’s
participation in their high school education by developing two types of activity at each level, grades 8 through 12.

1. further develop activities that currently exist in the culture of CSF schools. For example, participation in the Speech Arts
Competition.

2. develop new activities that the CSF wishes to integrate into its culture. For example, the planned Powell River Outdoor
Education Camp for all CSF Grade 8 students.

Key Items of the Passeport francophone communautaire Project

The following new activities garnered attention from students and members of the francophone community during provincial
consultations:

© Powell River Outdoor Education Camp for Grade 8 students;

© Western Camp for Grade 9 students;

© Opportunities for national and international student exchanges for Grade 10 students;
© Volunteer opportunities within the francophone community.

How the Project Operates
Passeport operations are simple: students in each year from grades 8 through 12 accumulate participation points for each
activity in which they are involved. A student can then exchange his or her points toward participation in two major activities:

© Grade 11 history trip (to Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec);
© Grade 12 international cooperation trip.

Implementing the Passeport francophone communautaire Project

The CSF has introduced the project to more than 200 students and to all of its Partners in Education partners (COPEF)'.
Everyone greeted the project with a great deal of enthusiasm. It was abundantly clear that the project would achieve its objective
of retaining students in their transition from elementary school to high school. The most oft-asked question was, “When does
the CSF expect to implement the Passeport project?” The five CSF partners each wrote letters of support, which were presented
to the Department of Canadian Heritage last March when the project was submitted.

The CSF is continuing its efforts to find financial support for this project.

For more information regarding the proposed Passeport francophone communautaire activities, visit the CSF website at
www.csf.be.ca

' The term “retention” means ensuring that students enrolled in an elementary francophone school or program (Kindergarten
— Grade 7) continue their studies in a francophone high school or program.

? COPEF partners are: BC Federation of Francophone Parents, Association of Francophone School Principals, BCTF-French Teachers,
Association of Francophone Youth Council of BC, Federation of Francophone of BC, Francophone Education Authority
of BC (CSF) and Canadian Union of Public Employees.

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