Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are also addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I want to follow up on my statement and discuss a proposed action within that Education Renewal and Innovation document. I talked to it in my statement that it seems that the department and the Minister are suggesting and fairly firm on going forward with junior kindergarten. The document that we have that was tabled talks about poor learning readiness. I’d like to reiterate my feeling in my statement that we don’t get learning readiness if we start at age four; we get it if we start at age zero.
I’d like to ask the Minister how the decision to go forward with junior kindergarten was reached. He referenced an article from the United Kingdom which says that it’s wonderful. I’ve seen several articles in the last month or so which indicate that junior kindergarten and kindergarten are not all that great. They are good for two years, but beyond that not.
How did the department and the Minister reach the decision that junior kindergarten was the way to go and where we should spend our money? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We talked about junior kindergarten along with other initiatives that we want to start working towards as part of our Early Childhood Development Framework and rolling out the action plan towards that. Part of that discussion is thinking about junior kindergarten. From what we’ve heard, we’ve heard over and over that we have to start from an early age.
There have been several reports. The Member and other Members, as well, reported on various research. One of the reports, of course, is from Ontario, that has very encouraging results, with a 7 percent increase in the number of children who are ready for Grade 1 learning as measured by Early Development Instruments. Those are just some of the areas, and it’s very important to recognize that kindergarten is also an option for the NWT; it’s not mandatory. Those are just some of the things we are considering as part of our approach on these initiatives. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister. At the risk of being contrary, I would like to say to the Minister that there is also an article that talks about Ontario’s kindergarten and that any benefits from junior kindergarten and kindergarten are lost by grade 3 or 4 and everybody is back to being on the same level, so I don’t think junior kindergarten is the panacea he’s suggesting.
We have a couple of junior kindergarten pilots right now. From what I understand, at least one of them, and I suspect all of them, are in a classroom combined with kindergarten, so you have junior kindergarten students in the same classroom as kindergarten students. From what I hear, that’s not working very well at all.
I would like to know from the Minister, if we go forward with junior kindergarten, what is the plan of the department to house kindergarten and junior kindergarten in our schools. Will they be in the same room or will they have their own classrooms? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I will just again reiterate some of the findings. Long-term studies found that academic gains of entry to school will shorten a very few years at the beginning, but pay out significantly later in adolescence and adulthood. Those are just some of the school completion learning having an effective lifestyle.
When it comes to a proposed junior kindergarten, we have to work with the DEAs and DECs as well. We are working closely, of course, with Health and Social Services, as well, because it will have very positive ripple effects into our communities. These are just the preliminary findings that we’ve had and the action plan pertaining to that. We will be working very closely with all of the stakeholders that are at hand. Mahsi.
Thanks to the Minister. The Minister speaks to research that talks about junior kindergarten and kindergarten and the benefits of that, and has been pointed out by Mr. Bromley many times and myself a number of times, the science also, and the research particularly, supports the larger gains that are made when we provide the early childhood programs for zero to three.
If we do implement junior kindergarten, it’s going to be a very costly venture. I have no idea what the estimate of the amount of money that’s going to be required, but if we put junior kindergarten into every one of our 49 schools – I think it’s 49 we have – that’s going to be a lot of money.
I’d like to ask the Minister how he expects that junior kindergarten will be funded. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the proposed junior kindergarten obviously is an investment into our schools, into our children. Obviously, we have to find funds to offset the costs. We are exploring those areas and we need to move forward on this. Now we have a framework that’s been tabled in this House and an action plan is part of that moving forward. The junior kindergarten has been proposed. I believe it will benefit the children, the schools and the communities, the regions, the whole Northwest Territories, comparable to other junior kindergartens in Ontario and other places. We want to be on par with other jurisdictions as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Minister that anything we do for our children is an investment, but I believe again that he is misplaced in putting the investment in junior kindergarten as opposed to investing in our children from birth to three years of age.
Knowing that the research says that the science proves that the earlier we invest, the better the results later on, I would like to ask the Minister if he would consider, in the development of this action plan, putting off implementing junior kindergarten for at least five years until we can see the effects of early childhood development programs on our kids from birth to zero or four. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the proposed junior kindergarten has been highlighted. We did share with the standing committee, as well, what the plan is. From what we’ve heard from the general public, our engagement has told us that we have start from an early age, as well, so those individuals will be prepared when they enter K-12. So, we need to roll out the program. Part of the action plan will cover that. So, I will be informing the standing committee on the progress at that level. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Yellowknife Center, Mr. Hawkins.
