News on Kindergarten BC
From the Throne Speech
A new Early Childhood Learning Agency will be established. It will assess the feasibility and costs of full school day kindergarten for five-year-olds. It will also undertake a feasibility study of providing parents with the choice of day-long kindergarten for four-year-olds by 2010, and for three-year-olds by 2012. That report will be completed and released within the year.
Boards of Education will also be given a new opportunity to provide early learning programs to preschoolers.
Your government pledged to use under-utilized school spaces as public spaces to deliver on public priorities.
Below are some questions that are already emerging (based on my discussions with child care operators, parents, educators, municipal reps etc…) regarding this announcement.
Will this new Early Childhood Learning Agency be part of MCFD, MOE or will it be independent? Who will be part of this new Agency?How does this announcement impact current child care capital grant applicants who may be accepted to receive funding? (As they must sign an agreement to provide care for multiple years, what will the impact of this be when 3, 4 and 5 year olds are eventually able to attend all day kindergarten?)Is the current funding provided under the child care operating funding program stable or will it now be redirected to pay for this new initiative?What impact will this announcement have on the existing child care operators? Will there be a process to integrate them into this new system or will they simply now be providers of after school care services for children three years of age and up?What will the educational requirements be for the staff working in the new all day kindergartens? Will ECE staff be qualified to work in all day kindergartens or will it be kindergarten teachers with a degree?Assuming this initiative is part of education, what will this mean for infant-toddler care in BC? How will the few spaces that there are be able to sustain themselves if the 3-5 care stream is removed from within child care?Will the full day kindergarten program be mandatory at certain age levels? If so, which levels…3 years, 4 years or 5 years?
These questions probably only scratch the surface regarding the issues related to the development of full day kindergarten in BC. There is still much more discussion to be had before anyone will be clear about what the impact of this announcement will be for families, children, schools and child care providers.