Filipino language class to be offered in Vancouver school

A Vancouver high school is set to become the first in B.C. to offer a course solely focused on Filipino language and culture.

In a unanimous vote Monday, the Vancouver School Board approved the class that will be offered to students at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary.

Joy Jose, a Filipino multicultural liaison worker with the Vancouver School Board, says the course will allow students to “be seen in the curriculum.”

Jose says she and others have long advocated for courses like this.

“For decades, we have tried to advocate for Filipino language and culture to be taught in the public school system,” she explained.

Read more: Vancouver school could be first in B.C. to offer Filipino language class

She says the new course will qualify as an elective, a class that students can choose to take to get enough credits for graduation. However, at this point, it may not be approved as a credited course for all universities.

Jose adds the introductory course can be taken by any Grade 10, 11, or 12 student who wants to learn more about the culture.

The course is set to be for “students who have limited or no experience at all with the Filipino language and culture, but it will also benefit students who already speak the language.”

For now, the class will be offered in the one school, but Jose hopes this will open the door for other classes like it to be more widely available.

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Jose says the class needs to be approved by the Ministry of Education so it can be accredited with more universities and offered in more places. Eventually, the goal is to have the class offered across the province — similar to taking French classes.

“The biggest challenge now really is for the Filipino teachers in this district and all other districts … [to] step up and make this course popular and be in demand so the Ministry of Education will approve it as a provincial language course equivalent to the other language courses already being offered.”

Jose says the course at Tupper has already been developed and is set to be taught by Tagalog-speaking teacher Maria Ramirez.

“Maintaining and preserving the cultural identity and developing the appreciation for language and history will help strengthen our identity as a people,” Jose said.

“This is a very historical moment for us Filipinos here,” she continued. “We really have to support each other.”

With files from Monika Gul

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story said the class would only be offered for grade 11 students, but grade 10, 11, and 12 students can take the class