QUEBEC'S DECLINING BIRTH RATE THE CITIZEN. Prince George - Wednesday. March 29. 1978 - 43 English schools face sharp decline (l,"$?ay INCOME by PETEK COWAN Southnm News Services (First of two stories) MONTREAL - A falling birthrate plus the effects of the French language charter and migration from Quebec, are taking their toll of English language education. While there are no firm emigration figures. Knglish-speaking educators face substantial enrollment drops. The decreases cannot be fully explained by the same factors which have reduced school populations in Quebec’s French schools, or in other provinces. The problem is most pronounced in the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal which runs the province’s biggest English school system. I can also be seen to a lesser degree in the English Catholic schools run by the mainly French Montreal Catholic School Commission. In fact, the MCSC has had a staggering decline in its French and English population, from 230,000 students in 1969 to 149,000. at present. This has been due mainly to a declining birth rate and largq population movements towards the suburbs. But. while the decrease in students is expected to stabilize somewhat in the 1980s. for the MCSC generally, it is starting to accelerate rapidly for the mostly English PSBGM. Most boards in Quebec have been closing schools and cutting back hiring of teachers. Quebec now has the lowest birthrate in Canada. In 1974, the national average was 15.4 births per 1,000 population. English Quebec has not been immune to these trends. But. its schools also face other challenges. The language charter restricts access to English schools. It denies access to immigrants and English Canadians coming in from other provinces, except Canadians here on temporary assign- Wild birds trapped for household pets ment. Thus. Anglo-Quebecers must depend on their own birthrate to keep English schools filled, something Premier Rene Levesque has dubbed “loin-power." But. the Anglo-Quebec birth rate has declined, newcomers must attend French schools and. on top of that. English educators are convinced large numbers of people are quietly leaving. G.T. Blacklock. chairman of the PSBGM's long-range planning committee, says his charts show enrollements are affected by political concerns. ‘‘A large number of people have said: “That’s it. There are hardly any schools in our territory’s West end that have not seriously been affected by enrollment drops. The school principles have confirmed that. It’s a quiet process, one family this week and another family in tvvo weeks time.” While statistics are not lacking. Blacklock’s view gets some support from the CBC Montreal program “Response” which obtained federal figures showing 97,000 persons left Quebec in 1977, after which taking immigration into account, means a net loss of 50.000 persons. However, the figures do not indicate the language spoken by those who left, or their reasons for leaving. Blacklock’s enrollment figures are eloquent. In the 19661967 school year, the PSBGM had 64.521 students, compared to 46,444 this year. Using 1966-1967 as a benchmark, the rate of decline was not alarming until 1970, the year of the “October Crisis”. This tends to support Blacklock’s theory about Ang-loQuebecers reacting to the political climate. That year, the rate of decline increased. Then it stabilized between 1974 and 1976, the year the Parti Quebecois was elected. Starting in 1976, the rate of decline increased. In the 19761977 school year, it went to WASHINGTON (AP) - A private study says some 100 million wild birds are trapped each year to satisfy the growing craze for exotic household pets, pushing several of the ■most popular and costly .species toward extinction. The study, released this week, says demand for wild . birds is so great that a thriving ’black market has developed, and smuggling commonly is ! resorted to in efforts to avoid ;animal protection and quarantine laws. ; The report said as many as 80 per cent of all birds captured in the wild may die before reaching the customer, and it urged the U.S. government to ban the import of birds for sale as pets. The report was paid for by the World Wildlife Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, Fund for Animals, Animal Welfare Institute and the Humane Society of the United States. Some of the birds are start-lingly expensive, it said. For instance, a golden-shouldered parakeet, a bird native to Australia, can cost $10,000. nearly tour per cent, meaning school population dropped to 77.63 per cent of its 1966 level. In the present school year, enrollments dropped 7.28 per cent. Blacklock is projecting enrollment up to 1985. He estimates it will drop by 10 per cent every year. His most optimistic estimate is that there will be 26.267 students by 1985. He thinks the most likely figure is 22.708. Thus he anticipates that from 1966 to 1985. the PSBGM's student population will have dropped by 60 to65 percent. The second biggest Protestant board, the suburban Lakeshore School Board, may also face a 10 per cent annual decline. Its director general. Robert Lavery. is convinced there is a heavy migration of English families. With a school c SITUATIONAL ) population of 16.000. the Lakeshore board has had a decline of 1.200 in nerollment t h is y e a r. 11 was 1.4001 as t y ea r. Lavery says Lakeshore will soon try and lure English families out of the PSBGM’s territory with an advertising campaign promising more stability in its system and a better lifestyle in its territory. On the Catholic side in Montreal, there is less concern. Donald Taddeo, an MCSC commissioner, says the English Catholic schools face less problems. They currently represent about 34.000 of the MCSC's 149.000 students. He points out the MCSC’s English schools are attended by students of many ethnic origins. Because their parents attended the system, or their brothers or sisters legally entered it before the charter, they and their offspring are entitled to English education. At the same time. Taddeo thinks they are inclined to stay in QUebec. But. as Joan Dougherty, chairmanof the PSBGM points out. the overall picture will increase from its present 3,500 students. By the mid 1980’s she says more than half the teachers in the PSBGM could be teaching in French. ■ Nor. dees it seem likely Premier Levesque's suggestion that Anglo-Quebecers increase their birthrate will have much effect. A number of studies have shown many English-speaking graduates are leaving Quebec. A study conducted by Gary Caldwell, a professor of sociology at Bishops University. showed that of students whose mother tongue was English and who left high school in 1971. 33 per cent had left Quebec by 1976. This represented a 50 percent increases over the previous five years. The study also showecfrnany still have plans to leave. Thus, with little chance of ne.v blood, the decline will probably be accentuated. TAX SERVICE BY H&R BLOCK Combine your one-stop '.lioppin-- ,m the H.iv with luvinji your income i.is pivp.nol In 11 K Mock. “Ihe Income I;i\ IVople" II & R Block t.i\ piep.iteis .ue lutneil to.isk the rnzht questions. 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