April 16, 2010
MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT EXCITED TO WELCOME KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS INTO THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI — Kindergarten teachers have been welcomed into the
public school system by their future coworkers with an overwhelmingly
positive response as demonstrated by last night’s vote by the members
of the PEI Teachers Federation (PEITF), said Minister of Education and
Early Childhood Development, Doug Currie.
“This is an important step forward in our kindergarten
transition process,” said Minister Currie. “This means that we will be
able to answer a number of questions that have been on the minds of
many parents, kindergarten teachers and school board officials. I am
very pleased that this step in the process is complete and we can move
forward to continue to strengthen our educational system, which will
support our one island community and one island future.”
This agreement means that school boards can now issue offer
letters to successful kindergarten teacher candidates. These
kindergarten teachers will be able to provide letters to the UPEI
Registrar’s Office in order to be officially accepted into the new
B.Ed. Program.
School boards will assign kindergarten teachers to schools based
on the needs of the students; the skills and experience of the team in
the school; and, as much as possible, the school preferences provided
by the candidate. Once kindergarten teachers are assigned to schools,
they will be contacted by their principal as soon as possible to begin
preparing for the arrival of students in September. That preparation
includes scheduling the Welcome to Kindergarten sessions, which will
give parents and kindergarten students the opportunity to meet their
teacher.
“I am excited about bringing kindergarten into the public school
system. This is the largest educational initiative in the modern
history of our province and I am proud to be a part of it,” said
Minister Currie. “I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new
kindergarten teachers. I know their expertise and experience in early
learning will be a terrific asset to our Island’s public school system.”
Some terms of the agreement with the PEITF include:
• The new kindergarten teachers will operate under a letter of
authority from the Certification and Standards Board until they
complete their B.Ed. and receive teacher certification.
• Kindergarten educators will have limited mobility. They will
be restricted to transfer solely to other kindergarten positions for a
minimum of three years and those who do not have a B.Ed. will not be
eligible to teach other grades until they become a certified teacher.
• Kindergarten educators who currently have a B.Ed. will not be
able to teach outside of kindergarten until 2013/14. During this time,
they will receive first consideration for any positions that are going
to be open to the public.
• Bilingual early childhood educators will have an opportunity
to compete for French and French immersion kindergarten teacher
positions.
• During the next three years, any kindergarten position not
filled by the kindergarten educators will be open to transfer for
teachers in Grades 1 through 12.
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For more information, contact Maureen Flanagan-LeClair, Education and Early Childhood Development by email at mxflanagan-leclair@gov.pe.ca or phone (902) 368-6449.
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