Pre-primary
Concerns arise about province’s pre-primary program implementation
A local preschool and daycare operator is worried about how the province’s new pre-primary program is going to affect her businesses and others.
Janice Rehill owns Microtots, a half-day preschool on the west side of New Glasgow, and a daycare located at the Pictou campus of the Nova Scotia Community College, called Kinder Kampus.
“I’m very concerned for the preschool program – mine and any other in the county. I believe it will put us out of business,” she said.
The Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development announced details of the new program in July, with New Glasgow Academy selected as the only Pictou County site to offer it this year. The idea is to phase in the program over the next four years, eventually making it available to all four-yearolds.
Rehill said while the new program may be good for parents, as it will be free, “for business owners it’s a disaster.”
She has many concerns about the pre-primary program. Along with losing four-year-olds who will likely attend the free provincial program, she’s worried about staffing.
Preschools and daycares are required to have a certain ratio of staff with Early Childhood Education certification, and it’s already difficult to find employees with the proper qualifications. She said if the province is hiring these people instead, the private centres may have to close.
If daycares close due to a staffing shortage, this will also leave fewer child care options for children younger than four years and could impact many families, she said.
Rehill, who is also an elementary school teacher, said she believes a full day is too long for four-year-olds.
She’s also upset because private preschool and daycare operators weren’t consulted before the plan was announced. “The province hasn’t been very forthcoming with information to current business owners. We were kind of blindsided by it.”
Education Minister Zach Churchill said the intention is to consult with the private sector in the fall. He said the sites chosen to host the first phase of the program were selected based on need, where many children weren’t accessing private programs. “In the first round we tried to avoid any conflict with the private sector.”
Moving forward, he said the government hopes to work together with the private operators to ensure a smooth transition.
Because the program is being rolled out so quickly, concerns have been raised about whether enough staff will be hired in time, with The Canadian Press reporting that opposition parties are calling for the implementation to be delayed until September 2018.
Churchill said school boards are engaged in the hiring process now. “We have confidence in their ability to do this.”
But he did say if qualified educators aren’t hired in specific areas, those programs won’t go ahead this year.
The deadline to apply for ECE positions with the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board was Aug. 15. Communications manager Darcy MacRae said the applications are now being reviewed.
Churchill said the province moved ahead quickly with the plan because “we don’t want kids to wait. We know this is important. The vast majority of kids in the province are not accessing early learning programs.”
He said only 25 per cent of four-year-olds in the province are enrolled in private pre-school programs now.
“Evidence is conclusive that pre-primary program for fouryear-olds has a great impact for our kids – academically, socially. It’s linked to improved outcomes,” said Churchill.
“We’re really excited about this. We’ve set forward a very ambitious agenda, and don’t want to waste a day rolling it out, we know how important it is.”