Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I spoke of the importance of preschool and daycare in small communities; Lutselk'e today. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment recognize that preschool is paramount for the success of students from kindergarten to grade 12? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Member that we need to focus on early childhood. That’s when the students learn. We need to invest heavily in that area. We have been doing that and will continue to do that, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Member that we need to focus on those early childhood students that are in our elementary schools or preschools and onwards. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, does the Minister and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment realize that daycare is an essential service in the communities so that parents can make productive choices? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, daycare is a service that has been provided in the community. We provide funding and resources and also operation costs, as well, to make it operational at the community level. Those individuals that may drop their children off at the centre, they will be well looked after. That’s one of our mandates as the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, to provide funding and resources to those establishments that provide those services. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, will the Minister direct the staff at ECE to develop a program and provide financial support to accredit daycare workers and preschool teachers? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, this is an area that we are currently exploring. It has been brought to our attention about the credentials that individuals bring to their positions and to recognize those credentials along with the funding sources and resources. It has been brought to our attention, so we are seriously looking at it and then if we can come up with some options in that respect. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister begin a process including building a building to house daycare and preschool in the department’s infrastructure plan? That could even be a renovation to the current school, Mr. Speaker, into the infrastructure plan. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we don’t allocate funding for infrastructure-wise or renovation but we do provide funding for operation costs, programming and also parts of a mortgage and rents of the establishments in the communities. This is an area that we haven’t really explored, but we do provide funding in other sources. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
