The PEI Government values the feedback from parents so we (Parents for Choice and Quality) have created this online survey to give you (parents on PEI) a way to voice your concerns and recommendations about early childhood education topics.

Over the past month there has been a lot of media coverage about early childhood education on PEI. From the child care facilities act and regulations consultation to the lack of consultation in regards to kindergarten changes.

This survey is for anyone who is a parent, grandparent, a future parent, early childhood educator or concerned citizen. We are giving you a voice to share your thoughts, ideas and concerns about early childhood education on PEI.

No service is perfect, nor do we as parents expect it to be. We do however, have a right to be heard if we have concerns about the current early childhood education system. Each of us are our children’s advocate and deserve respect.

This survey is a tool that will allow you to give your important feedback which will in turn raise the level of standards of early childhood education on PEI. This will also allow all issues regarding early childhood education to be placed on the table for discussion.

Please tell us your story so we can paint the true image of early childhood education on PEI. Together we can build a framework of concerns and offer recommendations so the PEI Government can give children the best start possible on Prince Edward Island.

For those who are not computer savvy, a PDF copy can be found on our website at www.choiceandquality.com. You can then feel free to mail or fax your completed form to the contacts listed on the form. Please feel free to print it off and distribute it to anyone concerned on PEI.

We will compile all the feedback from this survey and present it to Government. We ask that you submit your feedback to us by Monday, March 31, 2008.

Sincerely,

April Ennis, co-chair
Jane Boyd, co-chair
Parents for Choice and Quality

As you may haver heard by now I am serving as the Co-Chair of Parents for Choice & Quality in PEI.  This group has recently emerged and describes itself as follows:

Parents for Choice & Quality are a group consisting of mothers, fathers, grandparents, child care centres, industry professionals and concerned citizens of PEI that has grown quickly because the current consultation process was designed in reality to limit informed input. The group is working to ensure that parents get the choice and quality that they deserve for their children. This website has been established as well a Facebook group called PEI Child Care Facilities Act and Regulations; which now has in excess of 150 members.

In recent weeks there have been many developments in the child care world on the Island and our group has many concerns about what has been unfolding.  First of all, we are feeling very uncomfortable with the lack of thorough consultation process that has occurred regarding proposed changes to the Child Care Facilities Act and Regulations. These changes include the possibility of limiting child care licenses in certain areas of Prince Edward Island.  Here is a copy of a recent News Release that we issued.  Here are some of our thoughts on the most recent consultation meeting that occurred last week in Charlottetown. There are so many unanswered questions about what is happening so April Ennis and I wrote to Sarah Henry to try obtain further information and disclosure about both the process and research.  We are now waiting for a reply.