Pre-budget consultation briefs from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, Campaign 2000 and the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada.

Parents in PEI are currently faced with a number of critical issues related to the early years and education of Island children. 

An announcement last year regarding the plan to move Kindergarten into the public school system (from the child care system) has resulted in the appointment of a Public Kindergarten Commissioner who is now holding information meetings across the Island throughout January 2009.  In addition, a report is due to be released later this week by the Eastern School Board regarding the organization of schools in that district.  Yesterday, The Guardian published an article suggesting that the report will recommend the closure of 11 small schools. 

These are just two of the key issues that Island families are facing.  In reality, there are many other challenges that families face as they try to ensure their children receive access to quality early learning, education and support options. Parents for Choice and Quality have been working to address a number of the challenges that Island parents with young children are facing.  Recently we established a new website which can be found at www.choiceandquality.com.  In a timely move, today, we also launched a formal In The News section on the site which is a compilation of various news stories, press releases and related resources organized in sections such as:

• Early Years Strategy
• Child Care and Early Learning
• Kindergarten Transition
• Education
• Public Policy

Parents and key stakeholders who are interested in keeping up to date on the many issues that impact young PEI families will find this to be a helpful resource with many centralized links.