Imagine the year 2025, when China's the boss?

POSTED BY PAMELA YOON DRAKOS

In the 1990's Canada had Dofasco, Inco, Falconbridge, Noranda and Alcan. Today, all have been swallowed up by foreign owners. Is it possible that in 15 years time (when our children enter the workforce), they will be reporting to the "bosses in Beijing" and will need to know at least some Mandarin in order to be ahead of the pack? Read on....


Desperate Rio Tinto, ambitious Chinalco. China's on the move
by ERIC REGULY
March 9, 2009
The Globe and Mail
Monday March 9, 2009

ROME -- The Chinese were big fat zeroes in the global resources market a few years ago. Two major takeover efforts, the first in 2004 for Canada's Noranda, the second for California's Unocal a year later, disappeared into the fog of Beijing bureaucracy and Canadian and American security paranoia, never to emerge.

Today, Chinese national companies are back in action. One of them, Chinalco, seems to be lining itself up to take control of the world's second-biggest mining company, Rio Tinto. If there is anyone who knows how to exploit the recession, it is China.

The investment in Rio is more than just opportunistic. It reflects the reality that global resources power is gradually but surely shifting from Europe and the United States to China, says Australian mining consultant Michael Komesaroff. Chinalco, he says, is using Rio to graduate from "national champion to a Chinese-owed global champion." He believes a full takeover of Rio by Chinalco is inevitable.

To be sure, Chinalco's link with Rio is officially an investment, with a few doodads attached. It comes with no hint of a takeover, creeping or otherwise. The details paint a somewhat different picture.

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The Globe and Mail

The story began in mid-2007, when historically conservative Rio broke with tradition and greatly overextended itself with the top-of-the-market purchase of Canada's Alcan for $38-billion (U.S.). Tom Albanese, Rio's boss, compounded the problems a few months later, when he rejected a takeover offer from rival BHP Billiton, initially valued at $147-billion, as "not even in the ball park. It's two ball parks away."

As commodities peaked, then sank, BHP eventually dropped its takeover attempt. Rio's market value today is about $35-billion - a 68.5-per-cent drop in one year, compared with BHP's 30-per-cent drop. Rio's comparatively shabby performance can be blamed on the $40-billion loan that Rio took on to buy Alcan. With debt stacked as high as aluminum stockpiles, and aluminum prices at well less than half their summer peak, Rio needed a rescue disguised as a strategic investment.

Enter Chinalco. It is the state-owned mining giant that is an odd blend of Communist Party tool and ambitious commercial juggernaut. Chinalco is the world's third-biggest primary aluminum producer and calls itself a "backbone state enterprise" with an "international polymetallic" strategy.
For Chinalco, the mining selloff in the West could not have come at a better time.

The deal struck last month by the two companies is the convergence of long-term strategy (Chinalco's) and short-term desperation (Rio's). If it is approved by Australian regulators and Rio's board, Chinalco will buy $7.2-billion in convertible bonds, redeemable after seven years, at which point the Chinese stake in Rio would rise to 18 per cent from 9 per cent.

But Chinalco's bear hug is more forceful than the direct ownership level suggests. That's because it will pay $12.3-billion to buy hefty stakes in certain Rio businesses, including a 15-per-cent interest in Rio's flagship Hamersley iron ore mine in Australia, one of the biggest operations of its kind. Yet another aspect of the deal is the formation of three alliances with Rio in copper, iron ore and aluminum. They will manage the assets in which Chinalco is investing and help market their production. Chinalco will also get two seats on the Rio board and representation on various board committees.

The alliances between Chinalco and Rio appear far more extensive than traditional joint ventures. As mining analysts have pointed out, joint ventures between a listed company and its major shareholder are exceedingly rare. These particular joint ventures are extensive and will be governed by committees that include representatives from both sides.

Add it all up and Chinalco and Rio are linked at almost every level - from the boardroom and stock market to the shovel in the ground and the marketing department. It's not a stretch to see the links between the two companies turn into a full-blown merger, though that scenario could be many years away.

What might trigger it? Conflicts among joint-venture partners are fairly routine, as one partner decides the other partner is getting an unfair advantage. One way to end the conflict is to merge the assets under a single owner - a takeover, in other words.

Not everyone likes the Chinalco-Rio deal. Some investors think Rio is giving up too much control too cheaply by selling assets at or near the bottom of the market. Others think Rio should have offered a rights issue to existing shareholders if it wanted to raise cash to pay down debt. But never mind; Mr. Albanese is determined to go ahead with the deal as it was originally structured, and spent last week trying to drum up support among the unconverted.

As Mr. Albanese was trying to sell the deal, China Inc. was on the move. In Australia, Chinese companies have targeted OZ Minerals and Fortescue Metals. In Canada last month, China National Petroleum agreed to pay $499-million (Canadian) for Venerex Energy to gain access to the Calgary company's Libyan assets. There will be more. China seems poised to use the recession as an entry ticket to the world's resources arena.

A San Fran success story: from the chopping block to a stunning success

POSTED BY PAMELA YOON DRAKOS

Chinese language program a stunning bilingual success
Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 11, 2008

First grader Olivia Young stood in front of her classmates at San Francisco's Starr King Elementary as she read her story out loud, the words written in Chinese characters above a hand-drawn picture of a little girl.

The story, told completely in Mandarin, was about two friends, Olivia and Jade, who go to the forest and see a snake. Then the two girls become ghosts.

The other Room 5 students listened closely and giggled at the strange tale before clapping at the end.

Later, 7-year-old Olivia translated the tale. "Sen lin means forest," she said authoritatively.

Two years ago, Olivia and her classmates entered the San Francisco school district's first Mandarin immersion program, most with little or no background in Chinese.

The Chronicle followed this first batch of students through kindergarten as the Potrero Hill school went through the ups and downs of a new program.

Now, the students are a year older and a few inches taller, with sweet gap-toothed smiles and a swagger that comes with nearly being in second grade.

And, with just three days left of first grade, the students are jaw-droppingly proficient in Mandarin - reading and writing characters, speaking and listening during long conversations with their teacher, and giggling over jokes incomprehensible to non-Chinese speakers.

Of the 25 students who started as kindergartners two years ago, only one has left, and that was because of family logistics, said Starr King Principal Christopher Rosenberg. Another 13 students joined the class as first-graders, some with a Mandarin background, but most without, which required some catching up.

The two first-grade classes are now full - almost 40 kids. Coming up behind are two full kindergarten classes, and the demand for the fall's kindergarten spots exceeds the 40 seats available.

The program has pumped new life into Starr King, which was considered for closure a few years ago given an enrollment of 150 students, who filled only half the school.

With the addition of the Mandarin students, enrollment has jumped. "We're going to be 120 kids above where we were three years ago," Rosenberg said.

Mandarin is an increasingly popular language given the importance of China in the world economy. An increasing number of schools and colleges across the country are now teaching the language.

In San Francisco, educators also hoped the Mandarin program would increase diversity at the school, which had predominantly low-income, Latino and African American students. The voluntary form of desegregation has seemed to work.

White and Asian students from across the city travel to Potrero Hill for the Mandarin program, which also includes children from the neighborhood's public housing units.

While the program was meant to be a dual-immersion program - bringing together Mandarin-speaking English learners with the Chinese learners - the classes have mostly catered to non-Chinese speakers.

"It's still an issue," Rosenberg said. "The problem is a lot of those (Mandarin-speaking) families choose English-only programs."

While the district and school try to recruit native Chinese speakers, it's an uphill battle.
"I don't know really if we're ever going to crack that nut," he said. "But the program doesn't live or die on that." The overall demand for the program, however, has surged, Rosenberg said.

When the first students started two years ago, they were the guinea pigs and few families wanted to be in the first batch. This year, the tours of the school and program are jam-packed, Rosenberg said.

The students learn math in Mandarin, using mostly numerals rather than characters, and they have one hour of English language arts instruction every day so they can simultaneously learn to read and write in their native language.

Back in Room 5, Jet Tan, 7, took his turn to read his story. His was about going with his father to a camp where they will fix bikes, he said in English later. While it's sometimes hard to tell if the students comprehend everything going on around them, Jet said he understands everything his teacher, Helen Tong, says in class. His actions and long-winded responses in Mandarin leave little doubt about that. After all the students read their stories, they started drawing self-portraits. Lilly Jue, 7, finished her art project and headed for the rug where she sat cross-legged with a book in Mandarin. "It says, 'I Go to School,' " she said of the title before starting to read out loud in Chinese. The book had both Chinese characters and Pinyin, which is Mandarin written in the Latin alphabet. Lilly, however, was reading the characters, not Pinyin.
After the students filed out for lunch, Tong pulled out some of her students' work, showing the progression of their writing in journals throughout the year. Durrell Laury, whom The Chronicle profiled last year, used basic characters in September. One of his last entries this spring was a comprehensive story about a bird.

"It's just amazing," said Tong, who never speaks English in front of the students. "It's pretty complex in terms of sentence structure." Tong stared at the characters on Durrell's page, a year's worth of class work in Chinese filling the walls around her. "They're sponges," she said as the day and school year wound down. "It's amazing."

E-mail Jill Tucker at jtucker@sfchronicle.com.

Why are Asians good at math? Is it genetic? Malcolm Gladwell offers some explanations......read on

POSTED BY PAMELA YOON DRAKOS

In the new book by Malcolm Gladwell (staff writer for the New Yorker and formerly a business and science reporter at the Washington Post) titled OUTLIERS, The Story of Success, one of the chapters explores why Asians (Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Singaporeans) score higher in math....he asks if it is genetic?

Click on the link below to access an excerpt from Chapter 3: Rice Paddies and Math Tests
http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/outliers_excerpt3.html

I strongly believe that Gladwell is on to something here. Growing up in multicultural Malaysia where elementary school kids have a choice of going to a Malay school, Chinese school or Tamil school; it is a well-known fact that Chinese-school kids score highest in math tests....if it is indeed genetic, then the Chinese kids attending elementary school in Malay would score high too. It does not seem like the ethnic Chinese in Malay schools score as high as their Chinese school counterparts. In the chinese schools, kids learn all academic subjects in Mandarin Chinese with 1 hour each of Malay and English per day, from Grades 1-6. In the malay schools, kids learn all academic subjects in Malay with 1 hour of English per day. In the Tamil schools, kids learn all academic subjects in Tamil, with 1 hour each of Malay and English per day, from Grades 1-6. For the Tamil and Mandarin kids, they need to add an extra year (called Remove, essentially Grade 7) which they would transition to Malay, as ALL high school academics are taught in Malay only.

Sounds like a lot of pressure on a child, but it builds a good foundation for language study. I am a product of this Malaysian system (Malaysia's official language is Malay, although it is a British colony. My parents went to school in English). I read & write fluent English and Malay, I speak Cantonese and Mandarin and have studied Arabic and Spanish.

We are living in an increasingly global world. Information is sent across the world in seconds. Business is conducted globally and economies-of-scale is more important than ever before. We need to compete in order to maintain our standards of living. We must prepare our children for this inevitability, for example, "how will our children promote Canadian businesses abroad"? Mandarin is the most spoken language of the world and Mandarin is the second most spoken language of business. The answer is obvious. Our children should be given the opportunity to learn Mandarin. Don't get me wrong. English is still paramount, but having a good grasp of Mandarin will be a great asset.

How NOT to be the best transit lounge this side of the Pacific

POSTED BY PAMELA YOON DRAKOS

The CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation, Yuen Pau Woo, wrote the following article on BC's role as the Pacific Gateway. He writes that a gateway is not simply having the most beautiful ship port or the highest tech airport (the hard infrastructure that defines the gate), but also the very important soft infrastructure like human capital, innovation and networks. Why I bring up this article is that our Mandarin Bilingual initiative fits in very nicely into the puzzle....we need to ensure our children have the tools necessary to function in the global economy, and therefore maintain our Canadian leadership in this global economy. Mandarin fluency will help them thrive in Asia while working for BC companies. We must work now to ensure that we become a true Pacific Gateway and not just a world-class transit lounge. Read on....

Op-Ed: Building the Asia Pacific Gateway Economy

By Yuen Pau WOO

September 11, 2007

The opening of Prince Rupert’s Fairview Container Terminal this week marks an important new step in strengthening British Columbia’s relationship with Asia. The new facility, which will handle up to 500,000 TEUs of container cargo annually, promises to cut the sailing time for vessels from East Asia to North America by almost three days compared to other west coast ports such as Los Angeles-Long Beach or Seattle-Tacoma.

The Rupert opening is probably the most anticipated of the various Asia Pacific “Gateway and Corridor” projects initiated by the Federal government. Other projects in BC include road and rail upgrades around the Deltaport terminal in Tsawwassen and in other key transportation corridors.

The expansion of port, road, and rail infrastructure is much needed, and will be an important boost to the transportation sector in BC and its supporting industries. The idea of an Asia Pacific Gateway, however, should involve much more than transportation. For Vancouver in particular, the challenge is not simply to build a physical gateway; it is to build a gateway economy.

A recent study by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada suggests that there are promising signs of an emerging gateway economy in Vancouver. In a survey of top-tier accounting and legal firms, the Foundation found that all but one of the firms surveyed have an “Asia Practice”, loosely defined as professionals who specialize in Asia-related business.

China and Hong Kong top the list of geographic priorities, followed by Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. One very interesting finding is that the clients served by these firms are as likely to be from Asia as from BC. Similarly, the deals are not just in Canada, but also in Asian countries.

The types of Asia Pacific expertise provided by legal and accounting firms has gone well beyond the traditional immigration and real estate advisory services that accompanied the sharp influx of East Asian immigrants in the 80s and 90s. Respondents identified mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, and cross-border tax advice as some of the key activities in their Asia practices. The bulk of these deals likely have little to do with BC companies, which suggests the emergence of a services export industry that is based on the presence of Asia Pacific expertise and networks in Vancouver.

What is the source of this expertise and how does it relate to the gateway? The answer is that Vancouver’s longstanding ties to Asia, and the two-way flow of people, products, and ideas, has produced an environment which fosters knowledge and expertise that is relevant to Asia. Politicians and bureaucrats have only recently adopted the language of an “Asia Pacific gateway,” but the gateway has been at work in British Columbia for decades. The further development of the gateway will require investment not just in infrastructure, but also in human capital, innovation, and networks.

The BC government understands this broader conception of the Asia Pacific Gateway. Earlier this year, it set out a strategy to establish British Columbia as the “preferred economic and cultural gateway between North America and the Asia Pacific” and to ensure that British Columbians view Asia Pacific as “our economic future.”

But it is by no means inevitable that BC will achieve either of these aims. Part of the challenge is to be more ambitious about what it means to be a gateway. The Foundation’s study on legal and accounting “Asia practices” only scratches the surface of a much broader range of business and professional service activities in Vancouver that are quintessentially “gateway” activities. These include banking and financial services, real estate, architecture and engineering services, marketing and market research, education and training, and management consulting. The ways in which these activities connect with Asia are not well understood, but there are many stories about particular companies that have developed specialized Asia business niches because of the favourable mix of history, geography, and demography that is found in Vancouver.

Other gateway cities not only understand this broader conception of the gateway, but have also thrived on it. Hong Kong and Singapore, two of the busiest ports in the world, brand themselves above all as services economies. The massive investment in transportation infrastructure over the last two decades was never envisioned as an end in itself, but as one element in a broader strategy of economic development that included the development of services industries. There is a risk that if we project our own gateway ambitions merely as transportation infrastructure projects, we will be seen as a place through which business passes, rather than as a place where business is done.

The building of a physical gateway takes just a few years, but the establishment of a gateway economy will take decades. As we celebrate the opening of Prince Rupert’s container port, we must also turn our minds to the longer-term challenge of ensuring that we don’t end up as simply the best transit lounge this side of the Pacific.

Yuen Pau Woo is President and co-CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a think tank on Canada’s relations with Asia, based in Vancouver.

MORE INFO ON THE GATEWAY PROJECT CAN BE FOUND ON:

www.asiapacific.ca/gateway/about

Global, Innovative, Diverse

That's the slogan of York University's International MBA program. Dean Horvath is frustrated that even though York's international orientation has made the school a global contender, Canada is no longer a global contender. Over the recent years of rampant globalization, Canada's share of global trade has actually fallen. Click on the following article by the Globe and Mail's Marcus Gee to read on.....

canada%20globalization0001.pdf

Blog by Pam Drakos

Michael Phelps goes for the GOLD with Mandarin!

I was watching CNBC a couple of days ago and they aired an ad featuring Michael Phelps trying to learn Mandarin on his laptop with the Rosetta Stone Mandarin program. Phelps was seen with a laptop, earphones and nice pictures, with the audio teaching him how to pronounce the chinese words. Great ad, Rosetta Stone will likely sell a few copies of the software.

Some people have an awesome knack for tonal languages and will have no problem mastering Mandarin through a software at Michael Phelps' age. The fact if the matter is, the younger you start, the better and easier it is to get rid of accents and to be able to master the "tones" of Mandarin. Mandarin is a Level 4 language. Well, what is a Level 4 language? In short, it means that it is way more difficult (4 times) to learn than a romantic language like French, Spanish, etc. It is a tonal language, which means that a slight mispronunciation of the tones could mean something entirely different, which could lead to a major misunderstanding!

"I am trying, but it's the hardest things I have ever done" said Phelps, who landed a sponsorship deal with Rosetta Stone. Is Mandarin that hard? Or is it the time and the timing? I think both. Research shows that children are natural sponges at the early-childhood age. They soak up everything. Also, the earlier you start a child (learning anything, really), and the more time you devote to constant reinforcement, you will get good results. So, instead of waiting till Grade 11 to introduce Mandarin, why not start at preschool/Kindergarten?

Lebron James have been visiting China every summer since 2003. He plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and is already one of China's most popular athletes. But it is still a struggle to chat with the locals. "I am doing greetings and things like that, how to say my name, more basic stuff. I am not trying to have a big conversation, but as far as meeting people and greeting them, thanking them. The basics of being able to have a small conversation". James' motivation is twofold, he wants to show respect for the Chinese while he's in their country, as well as enhance future business opportunities in a country that has more citizens than any other and a booming economy.

It is reported that now that Phelps has 8 medals on his neck, he's going to try to land some major sponsorship deals ala Tiger Woods, Brett Favre, etc. May I suggest that he try really hard at Mandarin a score a deal with China Mobile??? Hmmm......

Blog posted by Pam Drakos

Edmonton visit to learn more about Mandarin bilingual program

Charles, Carolyn and I conducted our own field research trip to Edmonton on June 24. We had heard from various sources that Edmonton Public Schools has an excellent Mandarin bilingual program which has been around for 25 years. Yes, 25 years!!! We had heard that they have 12 schools (enrolment of 2000 students) offering Mandarin bilingual from Grade K-12. We were excited! In the Vancouver School District, only 1 school offers Mandarin bilingual starting at Grade 4, and none in Burnaby, none in North Van and none in West Van.

All 3 of us strongly believed that the earlier we start our kids in any foreign languages the better. So, in our research quest, we wanted to see examples of successes in early implementation (ie start at preschool/Kindergarten level), sustainability of the language program, and to ensure that we do not sacrifice English in favour of the 2nd language (ie how do we ensure that our children master English as well as the 2nd language?)

On our trip, we visited with Stuart Wachowicz. Stuart is the Director of Curriculum, Resource Development and Research Services for the Edmonton Public Schools’ Institute for Innovation in Second Language Education. He gave us a great presentation of Edmonton Public Schools’ success with their bilingual program. The district offers bilingual programs in seven languages, and second language courses in ten languages. This is in addition to a large and comprehensive French Immersion program. EPSB is also one of the few jurisdictions in Alberta with a mandated second language requirement for all students, requiring study of a second language for the six years between grade 4 and 9, with strong encouragement to continue that study through graduation.

One highlight of his presentation was their study on “bilingual” vs “immersion”. In a bilingual program, 50% of the instruction is in English and 50% in the target language. In Immersion, 100% of the instruction is in the target language. In Edmonton’s studies, they have found that the bilingual method actually improves a child’s command of the 1st (English) language in addition to mastery of the 2nd language by the time the child graduates from Grade 12. The child would be able to read a chinese newspaper and be able to attend university courses in chinese by the time he/she graduates from Grade 12 Mandarin if he/she started at kindergarten. Their studies do note that the bilingual program students do initially start off slower (ie, they “may” not seem to be very good at either languages initially, but will usually suddenly “catch-up” around Grade 4-5 level).

During our trip, we also had the opportunity to visit with 2 elementary schools; Meyonohk and Meadowlark. At Meyonohk, they run and English Core program and a Mandarin Bilingual Program. Families in the catchment can choose to enrol their children in any of these 2 tracks. In the Mandarin Bilingual program for example, the children would spend 50% of their time in Mandarin, and 50% of their time in English. Math is taught in Mandarin. Much thanks to the Principal at Meyonohk, Peter Onyschuk who took us on a school tour and so proudly showed us their progress. At the computer lab, keyboards had chinese characters on them and at the library, there was a section dedicated to chinese materials.

At Meadowlark Elementary, we had the opportunity to speak with the Principal, Ken Lam, who had been a teacher in the Mandarin Bilingual program prior to taking on a leadership position as Principal. We were very impressed that both schools stressed high academic achievement and a global citizenship, 2 very important goals for Charles, Carolyn and I. We were particularly impressed that at Meadowlark, in the Mandarin Bilingual program, students were also given the opportunity to learn French (French is also taught as a third language to all Mandarin students from grades 4 to 6 for 30 minutes two times a week.) How great is that?

The most important piece of the puzzle in the success of Edmonton’s Mandarin Bilingual program is parental involvement. The ECBEA (Edmonton Chinese Bilingual Education Association) was formed some 26 years ago to spearhead the adoption of a Mandarin Bilingual program in the Edmonton public school system. Over the years, the Association’s strength is impressive. Parents volunteer on the board (to consult with the school board on curriculum development, new school sites, etc) and also on fundraising. The ECBEA plays a major role in student recruitment to ensure sustainability of the program. We were graciously hosted by Past-President John Yee who drove us all over town visiting the 2 schools as well as to our various meetings. We are very grateful for his hospitality and his willingness to share what they have learnt with us.

We are also grateful to Dr Xin Xin Fang (Special Advisor on Chinese Language and Culture to the Govt of Alberta) who hosted us for dinner together with various Past Presidents and Board members of the ECBEA, who shared so many past success stories with us. Having a strong parent advisory council (in this case, a formal association, registered as a non-profit charitable organization) is key to the equation, in order to ensure sustainability. In Edmonton’s case, it is truly a partnership between the school board (administration & educators) and the families (parents & students).

Another important takeaway from our research trip to Edmonton was that having our children learn a second language daily (50% of the time) is going to be much more beneficial in generating proficiency than a weekend class (typically one hour, once a week). This will also free-up a child’s weekend time for physical activity (play sports) and family time.

Now, if only Vancouver can “start” a Mandarin Bilingual program; we are, after all, the gateway to the Pacific!

- Pam, Carolyn & Charles

_______________________________________________

References and Links:

Edmonton Chinese Bilingual Education Association (ECBEA) http://www.ecbea.org/

Edmonton Public Schools, Institute for Innovation in Second Language Education.
http://languages.epsb.ca/

Why learn Chinese? Link to Meyonohk school’s website:
http://meyonohk.epsb.ca/page1.html

Meadowlark School’s Mandarin Bilingual Program (with an additional French
component):
http://meadowlark.epsb.ca/

These articles are from the Globe and Mail referencing Edmonton's Mandarin Bilingual program:

Bold strokes on language
SATURDAY SPECIAL: Edmonton schools take lead with extensive bilingual program

KATHERINE HARDING

May 20, 2006

EDMONTON -- David Rody-Wu is talking about the weather with the rest of his kindergarten class. As his teacher, Diana Andrews, points to a weather chart, the other children join in the discussion, volleying effortlessly between Mandarin and English.

It's a kindergarten class that is anything but typical, measured by Canadian public-school standards. In Edmonton, however, the class at Meyonohk Elementary School is an example of a system that encourages second-language learning, and not just in French.

"It's easy," six-year-old David said later about his ability to speak both Mandarin and English. His tiny classroom is wallpapered with the children's drawings, the alphabet and Chinese characters.

The Edmonton public-school system has been offering a bilingual Mandarin language program, one of the largest and most comprehensive outside of China, for more than two decades.

Running from kindergarten to Grade 12, about 50 per cent of the coursework is conducted in Mandarin, from science and language arts to culture and arts. The curriculum is standardized.

About 1,570 students (2 per cent of the school district's total student
population) are currently enrolled at 12 schools across the capital city, with close to 15 per cent of the students coming from non-Chinese families.

But while worldwide interest in Mandarin has exploded as China grows as an international economic and political superpower, only one other public school board in Canada -- Calgary's -- has adopted Edmonton's model.

"You've got a situation where language policies in places such as Ontario have been timid and unimaginative," said Jim Cummins, an expert in second-language learning at the University of Toronto.

"It's kind of ironic that the province with by far the most enlightened language polices is the most conservative."

Most Canadian school boards that teach Mandarin offer it either on a limited basis (from kindergarten to Grade 4), or as an after-school or part-time course.

In Ontario, it would even be illegal to offer a Mandarin bilingual program.
According to provincial law, only English and French can be offered as either as a bilingual or immersion program.

Stuart Wachowicz, director of curriculum for Edmonton Public Schools, said second-language learning has been a priority for the board, which has
79,127 students.

He said it is critical for students to start such programs young because studies have shown they have a cognitive flexibility that disappears as they age.

The board offers bilingual programs in seven languages, including Hebrew, Arabic and Spanish.

Like the other alternative programs that the district offers students, what helps make them all so successful is the board's 31-year-old open-boundary policy. As long as a school is not full, a student can attend it. In fact, more than half of the system's students do not attend their designated schools.

It is innovative and consumer-oriented approaches such as these that have earned Edmonton a reputation as having one of the best public-school systems in the world.

The district, which also allows school-based budgeting, is widely credited with listening closely to what type of programming parents want for their children, according to the U of T's Mr. Cummins.

He said Edmonton's large bilingual program got its humble start in the 1970s after parents requested that the board make Ukrainian instruction available.

So, if the Edmonton board has so many lessons to teach, why aren't other districts lining up to learn?

Armando Cristinziano, the Toronto District School Board's program director for languages, said Mandarin is by far the language parents and students request the most. However, he said offering it as a bilingual program would not only be illegal, but also difficult because there are ample requests for many other languages.

"Equity is a big thing at the Toronto District School Board, so which language would you choose?" he asked.

Currently, the country's largest public-school board offers training in more than 45 languages, including Mandarin.

Still, the Edmonton board's Mr. Wachowicz is surprised that other school districts in Canada and the United States haven't followed Edmonton's lead by offering a comprehensive Mandarin bilingual program, which got its start with parent demand in 1982.

"I don't know if it's because our program isn't very well known, but we receive very little interest from other districts," he said. Most of the outside interest in the program comes from China, he added.

Chinese Ministry of Education officials and politicians have made several trips to Edmonton over the years to study the program. They have also partnered with the school board, including running a pilot program this spring to test a learning-assessment tool used in China. Called the HSK, it's the gold-standard Mandarin proficiency test.

Mr. Wachowicz said that while there are a lot of start-up costs with a language program such as Mandarin, maintenance is not expensive. At Meyonohk Elementary, for instance, most of the teaching materials and books come from Taiwan, where the prices are relatively low.

"In reality, it's no more expensive than teaching mathematics or English or science. It's certainly far less expensive than teaching physical education," Mr. Wachowicz said.

Peter Wong, 48, has two daughters enrolled in Edmonton's Mandarin bilingual program. He is also the president of a volunteer parent organization, the Edmonton Chinese Bilingual Education Association, which supports the public school board's efforts.

He said that when the program started 24 years ago, most of the Chinese residents in Edmonton spoke Cantonese.

Mr. Wong said that despite that fact, the decision to go with Mandarin was made after the community was canvassed. The parent volunteers phoned every Chinese-sounding surname in the Edmonton telephone book.

"It was a forward-looking decision by these pioneers at that time," Mr.
Wong said. "It was the right one. This is a language that is changing and shaping the world today."

While neither Mr. Wong nor his wife speak Mandarin (both know Cantonese), they are excited about the "doors" that the language will open for their daughters, Jessica and Heather.

He said the association is always trying to promote the program, but has found it is often just as hard to get the attention of Edmonton parents as it is to interest other school boards.

"It's a struggle," Mr. Wong acknowledged. "Some parents, especially new immigrants, just want their children to learn English."

Julia Elaschuk, principal of Caernarvon School in Edmonton, said the Mandarin bilingual program was once so popular that there used to be a draw for spots in the kindergarten class at her school.

But, she said, in the past five years interest has waned slightly.

She said the Edmonton school board is going to have to appeal more to
second- and third-generation Chinese parents to enroll their children by extolling the cultural and economic benefits.

Florrie Purdon wishes the word would spread to more non-Asian parents like her.

Ms. Purdon, who was raised in rural Alberta, and her husband, Peter, enrolled their children, Emma, 13, and Liam, 11, in the Mandarin program after hearing about it at a dinner party when the children were preschoolers.

Ms. Purdon said that through the years, she has often received confused looks from both non-Asian and Asian parents who wondered why they would want their children to learn "the hardest language on earth."

There were several reasons why the Purdons enrolled their children, she said, but mainly they wanted to open doors for them. Liam is now in Grade 6; Emma is in Grade 8.

"With the economy the way it's going, I keep saying 'thank heavens.' The choices and opportunities they will have will be tenfold over another Caucasian."

Liam said he enjoys learning Mandarin, even if his parents can't help him with his homework.

"I get extra help at school," he said. "It's easy -- sort of."

Back at Meyonohk Elementary's kindergarten class, Ms. Andrews was preparing to end another school year.

She thought back to September, when this class began.

"It was a real dog-and-pony show," she recalled with a deep laugh. "Most of the kids just want their mommies, so imagine how hard it is to teach them another language."

Many of her pupils entered the program this year not knowing Mandarin or English. Most can now write at least 50 Chinese characters and speak basic Mandarin.

"They've really come a long, long way, but this is just the start. This is just the start."
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Canada's education secret

MARGARET WENTE

May 24, 2006 at 4:30 PM EDT

Imagine a public-school system where families are encouraged to go shopping for the school of their choice. Imagine that the choice includes a sports school, an arts school, a military academy, a religious school, and Mandarin immersion. Imagine a world where all the school results are public, where schools compete for kids, and the bad schools are shut down.
Imagine a world where the students regularly outperform the rest of Canada, and 88 per cent of the kids in Grade 3 can actually read and write.

Yes, this world exists. You just have to move to Edmonton.

"In Edmonton, even billionaires send their kids to public school," says Angus McBeath, who recently retired as superintendent. Today, he advises schools across North America on the Edmonton model.

Mr. McBeath is a passionate defender of public education. He's also a passionate advocate for school reform. "I don't think people realize how big an achievement issue we have in this country," he says. About four in 10 adults can't read or write well enough to handle the complexities of modern life. Aboriginals, as a group, lag far behind. And yet, we like to think our school system is pretty good.

The three keys to the Edmonton model are entrepreneurship, accountability, and choice. The curriculum is determined by the province, but decision-making is decentralized. School principals control their own budgets and have unusual authority to run their schools and spend the money as they see fit. This is a revolutionary notion. In most places, even the smallest decisions -- hire a teacher assistant or repaint the gym? -- are tightly controlled from the top.

In Edmonton, parents know exactly how much money every school has to spend and how it spends it. They love the choice. Last year, 57 per cent of families sent their kids to schools outside the area where they live. In return, the schools are held accountable for results. Every student in Grades 1 through 9 is tested every year. If pupils aren't doing well, teachers are not allowed to blame parents.

Edmonton has its share of disadvantaged kids. A quarter of its 80,000 students are lower income, and 7,000 are aboriginal. Mr. McBeath argues that the best social program you can offer kids is literacy. And so the focus on literacy is intense. "We had to give up a lot of traditional things schools were involved in," he says, "because you can't do everything." There's less time now for Christmas concerts and raising money for tsunami victims. But the focus is paying off. In some lower-income schools, every child has passed the achievement tests. "These children will now be able to take advantage of Canada as a meritocracy."

The city still has major challenges. Dropout rates remain too high -- partly because of a red-hot economy where a kid with muscles can find a job for $35 an hour.

Mr. McBeath argues that the biggest obstacle to reform is the educational ruling class -- the school boards, bureaucrats, principals, and teachers unions. "The ruling class never voluntarily reforms itself," he says. The problem with public education is that it operates like a monopoly, even though it isn't. Affluent families can always opt out. The trick is to keep the affluent opting in -- and one way to do that is to recognize that one size can't possibly fit all. In order to increase choice, Edmonton has even got three large Christian schools to join the public system.

Edmonton's success is one of Canada's best-kept secrets -- except in places like New York, Houston, Seattle and Oakland, Calif., which are determined to adopt important elements of its approach. Some Atlantic provinces -- where school achievement is the lowest in Canada -- are interested, too.

Here in Ontario, alas, the public has the sense that the education crisis has largely passed. Gerard Kennedy, the former education minister who wants to be the federal Liberal leader, is widely considered a success because nobody's been on strike lately, and class sizes for the younger kids have shrunk.

Meantime, a giant, immovable bureaucracy has stifled real reform. The largest school boards are mired in yet another funding crisis, and a startling number of nine-year-olds still can't read. No one is thinking of hiring Angus McBeath. He's too dangerous.