'It will be an asset': Winnipeg School Division to launch Filipino bilingual program

The Winnipeg School Division (WSD) is launching a Filipino bilingual program next year.

The plan is to launch the program, which was initiated by the Manitoba Association of Filipino Teachers, beginning in September 2023 at Meadows West School. The program is expected to begin with kindergarten and Grade 1 students.

According to Dante Aviso, WSD trustee for Ward 5, the program will give kids the opportunity to learn Filipino as a second language. He explained students will be taught in Filipino for certain courses including art, music and social studies.

“The primary subjects will still be taught in English, like English, math and sciences,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

Perla Javate, the president of the Philippine Heritage Council of Manitoba and WSD trustee, said implementing the program is a process that will be done one step at a time.

“The campaign for it will be continued. By way of numbers, if the interest is there and it stays, it will keep on growing. That’s the hope. That’s what we want to happen,” she said.

Javate added that the language is important because it’s part of the Filipino identity.

“Having the language gives you that special feeling, that yes, I am a Filipino-Canadian,” she said.

Aviso said a program like this is important because it embraces the culture of many students in the school division.

“This is important as part of the multiculturalism that is part of the Canadian mosaic.”

Javate said the program is significant as it recognizes Filipino students and their cultural roots.

“With more Filipino [people] coming to Winnipeg, it will be an asset to have that language. I think more and more kids are realizing that now,” she said.

Twenty-three students are needed for the program, and so far, more than half of that have signed up.

“It will be filled up quickly,” Aviso said.

Javate said the program is gaining momentum in the community, adding that open houses will be held so more families can learn about what the program entails.

The Seven Oaks School Division already offers a Filipino Bilingual Program at its A.E. Wright School.

The Winnipeg School Division currently offers bilingual programs in Ukrainian, Spanish, Hebrew, Ojibwe, and Cree.

- With files from CTV’s Danton Unger.