Answers elusive on jr kindergarten funding
Minister says department to consult before determining how to pay for territory-wide program next year
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The territorial government will expand junior kindergarten to every community next school year but the education minister can't say yet how it will be funded it or how much it will cost.
Answers to the questions about one of the most controversial aspects of the program were elusive in an interview this month with Education, Culture and Employment Minister Alfred Moses.
"In terms of funding to the school boards, we are still in the process of determining the funding for junior kindergarten," Moses said in an interview earlier this month when asked whether he supports the original way the GNWT planned to fund the program - by clawing back surpluses from school districts. "As we go through that process we'll be sharing this with the education boards."
The minister said answers to many of the lingering questions about how the expansion of the program will work will only be decided after an additional round of consultations with schools, daycares and other early education providers set to begin in September. That includes how to fund the expansion to all 33 communities from the 16 that offered it in the previous school year.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment revealed earlier this month it would continue with the roll-out of the free, play-based program for four-year-olds aimed at improving education results, particularly in small communities.
That appeared to come as a surprise to some, including school officials and at least one MLA.
The department had said it would carry out the additional consultation after releasing an independent review of the program, which called for further "engagement" with various groups on funding and conflicts with existing early education programs.
Full implementation of junior kindergarten territory-wide was originally expected to cost about $7.4 million.
How much it's expected to cost as the program jumps from 16 to all 33 communities isn't clear, the minister said.
"At this moment we don't have the exact numbers. As the engagement continues over the next few months and we start speaking with communities, we'll have a better understanding," Moses said.
Funding was a sticking point when the program began in 2014. The plan was to expand it to regional centres like Hay River in the 2015-16 school year and to Yellowknife this year.
That expansion was halted in 2014 after heavy criticism from school officials and MLAs over funding and how the program would affect similar programs like Aboriginal Head Start in smaller centres.
Even after the independent report that interviewed more than 400 people and groups, funding questions lingered.
"The funding for JK will impact the schools but at this point in time we are not sure in what ways," Yellowknife Catholic Schools acting chairperson Miles Welsh stated in an e-mail earlier this month.
John Stephenson, chairperson of Yellowknife Education District No. 1, reiterated Monday he looks forward to hearing more from the government about implementation.
"We're looking forward to working with the minister on any of the educational initiatives, including junior kindergarten, and we'll look forward to our discussions with him and the department on the implementation of junior kindergarten," he said.
Stephenson said he supports junior kindergarten as a way to improve education outcomes.
With the program being offered, he said there's a likelihood enrolment will increase, which will create a need for more staff.
Moses said what's heard during consultations will be used by the department when it puts forward business plans this fall for consideration as part of the next budget.
