Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We hear increasing concerns from parents, teachers and education professionals regarding ECE’s plan to implement a free kindergarten curriculum that many feel is inappropriate for the NWT. The curriculum, apparently a blend of kindergarten, pre-kindergarten and early grades, not only lacks benefits for four-year-olds, it may even be harmful to some aspects of child development.
The fact that our smaller communities recognize that go slow approach is required, means that we have some opportunity to get it right before irreversible damage is done. We must get professional early childhood educators in place from Junior Kindergarten suitably and ensure the development of appropriate northern JK curriculum.
Fortunately, a substantial body of work is available, a made-in-the-North program developed over the past 17 years by the Aboriginal Head Start program. For example, Aboriginal Head Start staff found that the conventional early development indicator currently in use by ECE is not appropriate for Aboriginal students in our small northern communities. Through intensive focus and expert consultations, AHS derived an alternative assessment through which they enabled steady improvements in program performance. It is well documented and included in their rigorous evaluation reports and has been ignored by ECE in ECE’s blind rush to implement their latest edict. No attempt has been made to use the wealth of northern and Aboriginal knowledge that the AHS Council has put at the government’s disposal.
All available studies point out that in order to be effective, early childhood education programs must be of the highest quality and delivered by qualified child development professionals to be successful. Hybrid programs don’t work and are, in fact, harmful. Four-year-old children have much different needs than five and six-year-olds. People who are qualified to deliver early childhood education programs have completely different qualifications from kindergarten and early grade teachers. To ask staff to work with children that they are not qualified to teach is unfair to both the staff and the children.
Success hangs in the balance. To date, the Minister has refused to meet with AHS leaders and his staff have ignored their input. Will the Minister commit to integrating the experience and knowledge available through the Aboriginal Head Start program experience, and will he guarantee qualified professional early childhood educators to deliver an appropriately northern pre-kindergarten, not hybrid, program for every JK group?
I will have questions for the Minister. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
