Jane Boyd, Author at 45 Conversations Media & Education Ltd.

The P.E.I. government is considering subsidizing wages for daycare workers in an overhaul of how children are educated before they begin kindergarten.

Kathleen Flanagan, an early childhood education consultant, is drafting the province's first plan for the children who will be left behind in daycares when kindergarten students move into the public school system this fall.

Kindergarten programs are now run by private child-care centres.

"We're keeping a completely open mind about this, we're looking at trends from across Canada," Flanagan said Wednesday as she met with key players in early learning, including daycare owners.

Her report will examine whether P.E.I. should follow Ontario's lead and send four-year-olds to preschool. Other issues include whether daycares should follow a standard curriculum and if the government should subsidize wages for daycare workers.

Doug Currie, the minister of education and early childhood development, said he is aware of the desire for subsidized wages.

"We do have to recognize this work is valued and that we respect the work of the early childhood sector, and so wage enhancements do need to be on the table," he told CBC News.

The P.E.I. government pays child-care centres $3 million a year for kindergarten programs. Some of the Island's 31 child-care centres have said they may have to close without that money.

Sonya Corrigan, the executive director of the Early Childhood Development Association of P.E.I., said the organization would like to see the government pay 100 per cent of child-care costs to make up for the loss of the kindergarten program money.

"Realistically, it's probably not going to be something that we'll see in a three-month study," she said. "But certainly the framework would give us, I would hope, some steps to build on to get there eventually."

Although there will not be public hearings to provide input for Flanagan's report, parents of preschoolers can fill out a survey on the Department of Education website.

Flanagan is expected to submit her report by April 1.

via www.cbc.ca

It Takes a University: Childcare and Postsecondary Education

May 21rst, 2010 to May 22nd, 2010

There is a child care wait time crisis at Canadian post-secondary institutions. At the University of British Columbia (in Vancouver), for example, there are 1500 children on the waiting list for access to childcare, and at the universities of Dalhousie (in Halifax) and Alberta (in Edmonton), there are two to four year waiting lists for childcare. While post-secondary childcare available in Canada is generally safe, and of excellent quality, there is simply not enough of it to provide for the needs of the university community, or to make universities family friendly spaces. Having sufficient safe, affordable childcare will improve accessibility to university or college for many diverse groups of students, who are otherwise forced to choose between going to school and taking care of their children. It would also improve completion times, allowing more students to enter, or re-enter, the workforce faster. However, while many campuses, like UBC Vancouver, provide childcare, it is clear that supply does not meet demand. The issue is not that Canadian universities do not want to provide childcare, but that we need a national vision for infrastructure spending on childcare that can attend to local needs, and a clear articulation of the importance of childcare for university communities. This kind of vision cannot happen without a dialogue between friends, activists, and academics; the aim of this conference is to provide a space for this dialogue to occur.

via childcareconference.wordpress.com

CBC News – Prince Edward Island – Daycare subsidies under consideration

It Takes a University: Child Care and Post Secondary Institutions – Conference May 21-22, 2010