Don't bring junior kindergarten to big N.W.T. communities: MLAs
Program already in place in 24 small communities
MLAs in the Northwest Territories say the government's decision to start junior kindergarten is going to cause problems in bigger communities.
The new program for four year olds started in schools in 24 small communities this fall. It's scheduled to begin in Hay River, Inuvik and Fort Smith next September, and in Yellowknife in two years.
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Jane Groenewegen, the MLA for Hay River South, says there's no need to put junior kindergarten in large communities where there are already successful programs for young children, such Aboriginal Headstart and the French preschool in Hay River.
She wants Hay River to opt out of the program before it starts.
"There's no sense in re-evaluating after you've gutted the private sector and the NGO sector after you've taken all the four year olds out of the program," Groenewegen said.
Robert Hawkins, MLA for Yellowknife Centre, says day homes won't be able to sustain losing one third of their children.
He says the Minister of Education should have looked into this before announcing a new program.
"He's going to single-handedly collapse the day-care system in every large community," Hawkins said.
But Jackson Lafferty, the territory's Minister of Education, said the same thing he did in the spring when MLAs raised similar concerns.
"As I stated before, not every parent can afford early childhood programs, preschool programming."
Lafferty could be the solution for those parents.
He says he's consulting with day cares. He also says parents don't have to put their children in junior kindergarten, and that school districts can choose whether to offer a full-or part-time program.
Lafferty says the government will evaluate the junior kindergarten program every year now that it's in place.