By Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun | Link to Article
By Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun | Link to Article
VANCOUVER — ESL students are in the majority at more than 60 schools across Metro Vancouver, according to data from B.C.’s Ministry of Education. And at a dozen schools in the region, more than one in six students has special needs.
At The Vancouver Sun’s request, the ministry provided data on the number of English as a Second Language, special needs and gifted students at each school district and public school in B.C.
Of the 560,000 students attending public schools in B.C., about one in 10 are classified as English Language Learners or ELL, the term the ministry uses instead of ESL. Another one in 10 are classified as “special needs.
But rates vary dramatically from district to district and school to school.
For example, almost 30 per cent of the students in Richmond are classified as ELL, meaning they speak a language at home other than English. And of the roughly 550 schools in Metro Vancouver, there are 65 — primarily in Richmond, Surrey and Vancouver — where more than half of the students are English learners.
Clike here to use the interactive tool to compare rates of ESL, special needs and gifted children