We must invest in children
As a follow-up to the recent guest opinion of the Charlottetown chamber president Rory Francis, and the public panel discussion put on by the GCCC, I would like to express my views, from a limited knowledge, on the importance of education in general, and early childhood education in particular. I also want to congratulate the chamber on their positive initiative.
Children today are growing up in a world of rapid change and transition. New technologies are transforming how we live and work, how we communicate, share information and build relationships. Societies that have a well-trained, competent and flexible workforce will be successful in integrating knowledge, and finding innovative solutions to effectively address the current and emerging challenges we face.
If P.E.I. and Canada are to meet the challenges presented by a rapidly changing world, we must invest in young children, starting prenatally and throughout the early years of life. Stated simply, today’s children will become tomorrow’s citizens, workers and parents.
When we invest wisely in children and families, the next generation will contribute to society through a lifetime of productivity and responsible citizenship.
The other reality, however, is when we fail to provide children with what they need to build a strong foundation for healthy and productive lives, we put their future and the future of P.E.I. at risk.
Creating the right conditions to promote early childhood development is far more effective, and less costly, than addressing compounding issues and problems at a later stage. Health expenditures alone on P.E.I. for example, take an increasingly higher percentage of provincial expenditure. The pace at which health costs are escalating, in fact, is unsustainable.
The key to our future is an early childhood education system that is high quality, co-ordinated and universally accessible to all children. With the leadership and commitment of the provincial government, P.E.I. recently received well-deserved recognition for leading the country in creating and supporting a system of early learning and care.
The greatest challenge with the P.E.I. system however, is accessibility, where currently only about 40 per cent of children under the age of five across P.E.I. are participating in licensed early education programs.
We need to use this solid foundation of early education that exists in P.E.I. and expand it to include all children. Only then will we as a province begin to see better child health and educational outcomes.
I am in total agreement with the chamber’s K-12 initiative, as student outcomes across the full spectrum of the education system on P.E.I. need to improve. However, as a rapid learning process begins at birth, and to some extent prenatally, and with 90 per cent of brain development taking place prior to age five, it is critical that universal early childhood education be available for all Island children.
I feel confident that P.E.I. would be a great example for other provinces, if government, business, parents, and the education system, work together as committed participants in creating a universally accessible early education system on P.E.I.