This week was another roller-coaster of emotions… ups and downs… I should be used to this by now yet I am not!… Although people tell me not to get so involved personally, I cannot help it… I AM!!!
Preparing people for their SLE tests with the government, with only a few hours, is a very intense process… All of us are fully aware that we have to beat the clock and yet, at the same time, make progress… And whatever the outcome is, I am always affected on a personal level… Why? Simply because I do care for these individuals… because I do know that their future depends on their results… because I do know that their lives can be turned upside down in a matter of minutes…
This morning, at 9:00, Lara was tested on her oral skills in Brussels over the phone… she needs a C to get the job position she applied for in Ottawa. I have not heard from her yet… I have no idea how it went for her… Getting or not the level C will actually determine her future. Only a letter on a piece of paper… it is how decisions are made… even if a candidate is best qualified and suited for a specific job, if the required level is not met, the position will be given to someone else.
On Monday, Luna will take her oral test for the second time in the attempt of getting the B she needs to go back to her position in Montréal. Will she get it? At this point, chances are 50/50… we have to be realistic here! No one has the power to move their nose and see miracles happen… it takes time to bring someone from one level to the next one… but time she does not have much left: by the end of August, she will need that B otherwise she will have to accept an essential English position. She could do it right now actually… but why would she? She is entitled to get back her position… the one she wants… Why would she renounce because of the language requirements? She will eventually obtain her level, if not Monday, the following month… she will keep moving until she finally gets it!
Marina, unfortunately, was not given such reprieve… tomorrow will be her last day at work… only because she did not manage to get her C in English… HR exhausted all their resources in trying to keep her and they do not have the power to change the language requirements of her position. I do not remember how many times I wrote it but I will write it again: Marina is bilingual… if she were not, she would have never been hired in the first place because no one can work in Ottawa without reading, writing and speaking English… this is plain reality in the National Capital!… if policies on official languages are more political than anything else, it is only in regards of French… English is a must around here! If the PSC were reasonable and flexible, they would have more than one oral test version to accommodate people who have problems that have nothing to do with their abilities to communicate in their second language. Someone like Marina should be tested in the conversation mode because the way the present test is structured, chances are that she will never pass the level C… if language mistakes can be fixed, there are other things that cannot and the fact that the PPC does not recognize that is beyond me!… It is not given to everyone to come up with a two-three minute structured and articulated presentation (introduction, development, conclusion) in 90 seconds! I wonder if those who designed that oral test could indeed pass it… maybe they should try and have a taste of their own medicine for a change.
Both the PSC and the PCC have way too much power, because their decisions to have someone pass or not affect the candidates’ lives… one day they have a good job and the next one, they are unemployed… of course their power is not that visible, yet the letter they affix on a piece of paper have serious consequences… Marina asked me if she should contest her results and file a formal complaint… I told her to do it although we both know she will not win against this huge machine… yet it will empower her! And I reassured her… not having passed her C is not a reflection of her language competencies… it is the reflection of the system’s incompetence to see the obvious and address important issues.
On a merrier note, Alicia finally got her reading comprehension and written expression tests’ results (after more than three weeks!)… she got an E in both! I it is awesome!… Now I will start preparing her for her upcoming oral interaction test… She needs a C and I am sure she will get it, though we will have some good polishing to do!… She certainly needs a brush-up in order the meet the nonsense criterias of the level she is targeting.
Congratulations Alicia!
AND…
Marina… I am very proud of you! You went there and you did what you had to do!…
“Tout homme qui aurait conscience de ses actes ne pourrait pour rien au monde presser du doigt la détente d’un fusil”
Henry Miller
2 Comments
I think that there is a component missing in this whole SLE process. I know that there has to be an evaluation process but perhaps the workplace from which the employee comes from should be able to add input as to how the individual operates using the Official Languages. Part of this should count toward the whole SLE rating and not just from some external testing place that is asking questions unrelated to the actual work that the employee does. It is too abstract and unrelated and it is missing a section of evaluation that I think other careers use to deem their employees fit to communicate in another language. The fact that we enter the test room not knowing whether we will get our rating is ridiculous and illogical. Further the testing is not weighted according to how much of the language we are actually going to use on the job. If I only use French for 20% of my time on the job then why should the SLE mark count 100% against whether I keep my job or not?????? Something has to change here!
Bonjour Luna,
What an insightful comment!…
All it would take to implement such a complementary component to the SLE testing would actually take only some basic common sense. At no point the PSC ever asked feedback from the candidates’ supervisors and colleagues in order to have a better idea of how functional they are (in their second language) on the job.
When the new version of the test came into effect, there were no more direct work related questions… now all of the questions are randomly chosen by a computer which doesn’t make much sense to me. When they changed the test, apparently it was because the failure rate was too high… well, I’d be curious to know what is the failure rate now. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it’s even worse…
Very good points Luna… something to seriously reflect upon… maybe you should write a proposal and submit it to the Federal Parliement?
À demain!