Child development in a slump
Early childhood action plan shows NWT children less prepared for school
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Children across the NWT have shown a decline in their readiness for school over the last five years, according to the territorial government.
Chief public health officer Andre Corriveau, left, Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy, Education, and Culture and Employment Minister Alfred Moses present an action plan on early childhood development to the Standing Committee on Social Development Monday at the legislative assembly. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo |
This is why the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and Department of Health and Social Services has proposed a three-year action plan to improve early childhood development.
Both departments presented the data to the Standing Committee on Social Development on Monday as part of a 19-point strategy to improve support for NWT children and parents. Initiatives included in the plan include improvement of services for expectant mothers, equitable access to therapy services for children with developmental issues and funding for licensed early childhood facilities to support children with specific needs.
"Yellowknife has been showing fairly consistent results over time, whereas in our regional centres and small communities, we've actually seen (developmental) vulnerability rates increase," said Rita Mueller, Education,
Culture and Employment assistant deputy minister.
The data was collected using the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a population-based tool that measures how ready children are for school at the age of five.
The instrument takes into account five developmental areas: physical health and well-being; emotional maturity; communication skills and general knowledge; social competence; and language and cognitive development.
Education Minister Alfred Moses said the department has been using the tool for five years and kindergarten teachers are trained to administer it annually. The data they gather is then shared with education authorities so they can determine how to tailor their programming to improve development.
According to the action plan presented to the standing committee, 38 per cent of NWT children are lagging in their development by the age of five.
The picture is even worse in small communities, where the number of children who are behind in their development is more than double that in Yellowknife.
"As a whole, (developmental) vulnerability rates are about 25 per cent higher in the NWT than across the rest of Canada," Mueller said.
A chart presented in the proposal shows there was recently a sharp increase in the percentage of children in small communities who are considered vulnerable in one of the developmental areas measured by the instrument.
From 2015 to 2016, the percentage of children in small communities who were vulnerable increased from 49.2 per cent to 65.9 per cent.
Yellowknife saw only a 0.7-per-cent increase, from 41.1 per cent to 41.8 per cent, while regional centres saw an increase from 26.8 per cent to 32.5 per cent, according to the chart.
"It's notable that all of the indicators have gone up, meaning that there is a greater need, but especially in the smaller communities," said Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green.
She questioned the tool's reliability given the fluctuation in community results from one year to the next.
Mueller said variations in the student population from year to year can have a large impact, especially in small communities. But she couldn't explain why the difference from 2015 to 2016 was so large.
"We don't really have a clear understanding right now of what may have accounted for that considerable dip that you see in 2015 in small communities," Mueller said.
Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne also asked about the reliability of the tool during the Education, Culture and Employment budget review on Monday in the legislative assembly.
He asked the education minister is he was confident it is the most reliable method for tracking childhood development.
Moses said the tool is used across Canada and has also helped the health department understand how to provide programs and services.
"We do feel that the results and the EDI tool itself works well for us," Moses said.
