Twenty-five years ago, the Ontario government passed a law dealing with special education to help not only students with learning difficulties, but also gifted students. It was to meet the needs of the latter that Naz Dean, then director of education for the former Carleton School Board, created enrichment mini-courses in 1980, in partnership with the University of Ottawa. The program is aimed at students at the high school level.
Queen’s University in Kingston has been offering mini-courses for the past 15 years, largely based on the University of Ottawa model.
In fact, such courses are standard practice in several Canadian universities, where they are viewed as a way to promote the institution and recruit students. But the University of Ottawa is unique compared to sister institutions, because the program was created at the request of school boards.
In the beginning, four school boards participated. At that time the University offered six courses in French and 12 in English.
Yvan Albert has been the coordinator of the program since its inception. His initial task upon arriving at the University 25 years ago was to establish a program that challenged gifted students. “Let’s just say that I quickly learned how the University and the school boards worked,” Albert said.
While the initiative received the full and active endorsement of faculties, interest among high school students was just not there in the early days, Albert noted. That was to change over the years…
Today, more than 20 school boards from both Quebec and Ontario take part in the program. Carleton University and La Cité collégiale are also involved.
For the mini-courses’ 25th edition, the University will offer 36 courses in French and 40 courses in English to some 1,500 students. More than 80 professors will lend their expertise to the program.
“The event’s popularity continues to grow. It is a wonderful challenge and I am glad to still be part of it,” says Albert.
To celebrate this 25th anniversary, two new scholarships of $1000 and two worth $500 will be offered to students from Francophone and Anglophone school boards.
The enrichment mini-courses take place from May 2 to 6, 2005.
