More spaces, better access
Ottawa and P.E.I. sign bilateral agreement to improve early learning and child care in the province
Millions of dollars in federal funding will allow P.E.I. to expand child care access for underserved populations and for children who are more vulnerable. Surrounded by small children at the Parkdale-Sherwood Headstart Early Learning Centre in Charlottetown Tuesday, Families, Children and Social Development Minister JeanYves Duclos announced a three-year bilateral agreement to support early learning and child care needs of Islanders.
Duclos and P.E.I. Education, Early Learning and Culture Minister Doug Currie signed the bilateral agreement that allocates $10.5 million over the next three years for early learning and child care.
Currie said $3.6 million will be spent to enable at least 200 more children to access licensed early learning and child care in the province.
“We anticipate to move fairly quickly,’’ he said following the announcement.
“Spaces will depend on need. Obviously, the larger centres probably will have more demand, but we certainly recognize that access is a priority for child care all across the province.’’
Currie said the province’s action plan leans heavily on input from an advisory committee of key stakeholders in the early childhood sector.
Infant spaces (0 to 22 months) and pre-schooler spaces (two to four years) have been identified as the highest demand areas. The province will put $2.5 million of the federal funding towards creating more access for children who are most vulnerable because of family wellbeing, employment status, lone parenting and low literacy. “For the poorest Canadians, the lack of child care often also means falling deeper into poverty,’’ says Duclos.
“For many poor parents, the absurd reality is they cannot afford to work. Therefore we must – and we will – do better.’’
The province will also spend $1.5 million to provide more supports for children with unique needs and another $1.5 million to increase support for parents who work non-standard hours.
Parents who are seasonally employed, work shift work or sporadic hours find it harder to access programs, notes Currie. The province’s employment base includes 12 per cent seasonal employment and many parents who work non-standard hours in service industries throughout the year. “Innovation was a key consideration in developing this plan,’’ says Currie.
“We wanted to find new approaches to long standing issues that could not be addressed using traditional models. As a result, we will be working with (early learning and child care) centres to increase access for parents who do seasonal work, shift work or non-standard hours throughout the year.’’ More than $200,000 will be put towards training for early childhood educators.
“We want our sector to continue to build on the professionalism and the training that we implemented with the pre-school excellence initiative seven years ago,’’ said Currie. Premier Wade MacLauchlan called early learning “the first and most important stage of learning and indeed of development and growth.’’
Close to $900,000 will be spent to monitor the action plan over the next three years with a project manager and staff contracted to oversee the plan, conduct a feasibility study, and collect data and monitor the impact of the new initiatives and approaches.