Pre-planning for pre-Primary
Local childcare facilities ponder the future
Some childcare centres are likely to experience layoffs and even outright closures under the province’s new pre-Primary program, a local administrator says.
“It certainly will impact centres. That definitely will happen, said Iris Murphy, assistant director at the Colchester Community Day Care Centre. “There will be centres that won’t be sustainable. It will be too difficult.”
The Liberal government announced its pre-Primary program in the spring budget after consultations with school board officials as a way to help transition children into an academic learning environment. Zach Churchill, minister of Education and Early Childhood Development said the reason the program is being offered now is because 75 per cent of the population doesn’t utilize or have access to private or nonprofit childcare programs.
Starting in September, 50 classrooms at 43 sites across the province will be offering the prePrimary program, which has free enrolment for children age four, as long as there is a nearby site with available space.
Within Colchester County, there are three sites: North River Elementary school, Bible Hill Central Elementary and Hilden Elementary.
“The huge benefit for parents is that it’s free,” Murphy said. “But I don’t see any benefits to that, personally, from a learning perspective, unless it’s going to be a play-based learning environment. These children are far too young to be put into an academic environment. They need to be in a play-based environment.”
Depending on the success of this year’s pilot program, Churchill has said it could be expanded to 250 classrooms. And that is precisely where Murphy foresees financial difficulty for daycare centres in the future.
“I feel like, perhaps, that it is going to be the wave of the future and that eventually there will be more pre-Primaries than there are now,” she said. “So it certainly will, from a revenue perspective, change the face of childcare. There is no question.”
One way Murphy’s centre is dealing with the potential fallout, is by accepting children at 18-months old. The current acceptable age is two years.
She also raised the issue of transportation for pre-Primary students, given that no busing services will be available for them.
“I don’t know yet the full impact,” she said. “But I will say, for parents who work a full day, it is going to be a huge challenge for them to arrange transportation.”
Another issue for Murphy, is the child-to-staff ratio of 10-to-one, permitted under the program, compared to the eightto-one ratio at daycare centres.
The government has said the pre-Primary program will offer a play-based environment but Murphy said being successful will depend on how it’s delivered.
However, Darcy MacRae, spokesman for the ChignectoCentral Regional School Board, said that shouldn’t be an issue.
“It is definitely a learning environment but it is play-based to ensure the children at that age get the most out of it.”
Pre-registration is currently underway for the three elementary schools within Colchester County where the pre-Primary program is being offered.
For registration information or to find out more about the program, log on to: http://ccrsb.ca/ .
“And once they pre-register they will get a call from board to finalize their registration,” he said.