One in four parents of children who study English as a second language in Calgary schools is dissatisfied with the program, a new survey shows.

More than 100 families were interviewed for the Coalition for Equal Access to Education survey, which found 14.4 per cent of parents were dissatisfied and 11.5 per cent were strongly dissatisfied with ESL services in schools.

The survey also found 44 per cent of students receive less than 2.5 hours of ESL instruction each week.

Coalition executive director Hieu Van Ngo said the figures, collected since July, were a disappointing reflection on Calgary schools.

"We have lots to do to make (the system) fair and good for students from all backgrounds," he said. "If you are receiving less than two hours' (instruction) a week that is not good. It is rationalization."

The survey results were released Saturday at a community forum in Bridgeland organized by the coalition.

Concerned parents met with 14 candidates who are running for the office of trustee with the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School District.

Most wanted to express their concerns and share their experiences with candidates.

Parent Shilu Ghimire, originally from Nepal, said she is concerned about the way ESL education is treated in schools.

"Children are taken out of their (mainstream) classes for ESL lessons and it affects their ongoing studies in those classes," she said.

Ghimire believes the school her son, 12, attends based his ESL status more on his heritage and colour than his levels of achievement.

"He sometimes feels discriminated against as an ESL student," she said, adding overall teacher expectations of ESL students were lower, to the students' detriment.

Other parents attending the forum said they were concerned about the lack of teachers' specialist qualifications.

The coalition's survey also found only 43 per cent of ESL students and 41 per cent of their parents were happy or strongly satisfied with ESL services in their schools.

A mere seven per cent of ESL students said their schools had a screening procedure in place to assess their ESL needs.

While Van Ngo admitted some of the students simply may not know about the procedures in place at their schools, he said student perceptions were still important.

"It says a lot about how schools are dealing with the kids and communicating with them," he said.

Adam Heighes, who is campaigning for election as a trustee for the Catholic school board, said ESL education in Calgary schools had improved a lot in the past 10 years.

Funding is now available to students born in Canada who speak a language other than English at home.

pbeauchamp@theherald.canwest.com