September 23, 2009
For immediate release

Provincial Government Introduces New Accelerated Training Program for Early Childhood Educators

Education and Early Childhood Development

The
provincial government is introducing a new program that will provide
non-certified staff in licensed early childhood centres with their
tuition and the opportunity to complete their Diploma in Early
Childhood Care and Education in one year rather than two, says
Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Gerard Greenan.

“The new accelerated program will benefit employees, families and early
childhood centres,” said Minister Greenan. “Employees will have an
affordable opportunity to increase their knowledge and receive their
credentials. Families will benefit from having more trained early
childhood educators working with their children. Owners and operators
of early childhood centres will have more access to trained educators
when the kindergarten program moves to the school system next year.”

The program will be offered at Holland College in Charlottetown and
Summerside, and at Collège Acadie in Wellington. It will run from
October 2009 to September 2010.

To be eligible, participants
must have worked in a licensed early childhood centre for at least
4,500 hours. They must also be able to meet Holland College and College
Acadie entrance requirements and be eligible for SkillsPEI funding.

Minister Greenan said the new program will help to address the growing
shortage of early childhood educators that is occurring in Prince
Edward Island and across the country. “We recognize the great
contribution that early childhood educators make to our society and our
economy. As a province, we are working with the early childhood sector
on several fronts to recruit and retain this essential human resource,”
he said.

The new program is a partnership of the Government of
Prince Edward Island, the Government of Canada, the Early Childhood
Development Association of PEI, Holland College and Collège Acadie with
funding of $470,000 through the Labour Market Development Agreement.

Minister Greenan acknowledged the excellent work being done by the
Early Childhood Development Association to promote the program to its
members. “With the help of the Early Childhood Development Association,
over 80 people attended recent information sessions across the Island.
We are hoping the new accelerated program will be an incentive for at
least 50 individuals to receive their certification in early childhood
education. Registrations will be accepted until late September and I
encourage people to participate in this valuable learning opportunity,”
said Minister Greenan.

For more information on the Early
Childhood Care and Education Accelerated Training Program, contact the
Early Childhood Development Association of PEI at 902 368 1866.

From The brain drain on the economy may be child's play

By Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun

According to a recent study of kindergarten-aged children
commissioned by, of all people, the B.C. Business Council, University
of B.C. researchers with the school's Human Early Learning Partnership
found that so many children entering kindergarten fail to meet the
usual developmental benchmarks that they represent an enormous in-house
brain drain on the province's economy.

These are not small
numbers. According to the HELP study, which tracked 140,000 students
over a decade, just under 30 per cent of B.C. children entering
kindergarten are "developmentally vulnerable" — lacking in those basic
skills they need to thrive in school and in the future. The study
considers a rate of child vulnerability above 10 per cent as
"biologically unnecessary."

"Economic analyses," the study
states, "reveal this depletion (in human capital) will cause B.C. to
forgo 20 per cent GDP growth over the next 60 years.

"The
economic value of this loss is equivalent to investing $401.5 billion
today at a rate of 3.5 per cent interest. Unnecessary vulnerability in
B.C. is thus costing the provincial economy a sum of money that is 10
times the total provincial debt load."

That loss in human capital
could mean the difference of B.C. being in the economic forefront of
developed nations in the future or being mired somewhere in the
underperforming middle of the pack.