An ESL program at the Toronto District School Board could soon find itself helping thousands of refugee children from Syria learn English as they build their new lives in the GTA.
The Literacy Enrichment Academic Program, or LEAP, is an accelerated ESL initiative aimed at teaching English to students between Grades 6 and 8.
As the board prepares to welcome Syrian refugees, this three-year program could be the first stop for many refugee children.
And newcomer students who are already in the program say LEAP will be a welcome change for some refugee children who weren’t allowed to go to school because it was too dangerous.
“In Afghanistan, we didn’t go to school,” said Mirzab Asna, who joined the program when she arrived in Canada in 2014. “My mom taught me at home.”
Even though she’s in Grade 7, she only officially started when she arrived in Canada.
“We can go outside. We can have fun,” she said. “There’s no more worrying here. It’s really a safe country and I love that.”
Students spend part of the morning and afternoon in LEAP-specific classes before being integrated with the rest of the school population in the afternoon.
“Myself and the other homeroom teachers are really the first contact point in the school system,” said LEAP teacher Yasmin Khan, who has taught in the program for five years.
Khan, herself a refugee, says she can relate to students in the program and is excited to offer the refugees “a comfortable, supportive, risk-free environment.”
The students say they’re thankful to be in the program.
“It made me read a lot of books and they speak with me so now I know how to talk,” said student Rafiya Mubashshira.
They say the program has changed their lives and they know it will do the same for new refugees.
