First year of P.E.I.’s public pre-kindergarten program draws fewer kids than expected

Eight months after P.E.I. launched its common pre-kindergarten program at Island child-care centres, officers say the uptake hasn’t been as sturdy as they anticipated. 

The truth is, the share of four-year-olds enrolled at licensed child-care centres is not any better now than it was earlier than the free, 15-hour-per-week program launched in September. 

“Our numbers are nonetheless fairly in line with what they have been previous to the publicly funded pre-Okay program,” mentioned Doreen Gillis, P.E.I.’s director of early childhood growth. “We did anticipate that there can be a rise within the variety of four-year-old youngsters in these applications, and we did put together for that improve.”

Election promise 

Because the Progressive Conservatives defined after they pitched the program to voters throughout the 2019 election marketing campaign, about 75 per cent of Island four-year-olds have been already enrolled in pre-kindergarten. 

The intention of the brand new publicly-funded program was to succeed in the opposite 25 per cent by making pre-kindergarten extra reasonably priced and accessible, so that each one four-year-olds might enter public college on a extra degree taking part in area. 

The province developed a pre-kindergarten curriculum and added 400 further areas at centres across the province. 

Nevertheless, Gillis mentioned most centres have been already providing a lot of what is in that curriculum. And most of these 400 new areas have gone unfilled. 

“What has modified is that the price is now paid for that core 15-hour program,” she mentioned. “And for some centres, they could not have utilized our early studying framework. For these centres, that may be new for them this yr.”

Pandemic accountable? 

Gillis mentioned it isn’t clear why the uptake for this system hasn’t been better, and the province hasn’t finished any analysis to seek out solutions. 

It was initially imagined to launch in September 2020, however authorities postponed it a yr due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Cheryl MacKay, supervisor at Valuable Jewels Daycare in Charlottetown, suspects the pandemic should still be deterring some mother and father from enrolling their children. 

“Some mother and father have been nervous. Some mother and father, they acquired that point at house and wish to maintain that point at house,” mentioned MacKay. “With versatile working schedules, working from house, a little bit of a concern of COVID … some perhaps selected that this may be a yr they’d maintain children house.”

MacKay suspects if extra mother and father have been conscious of the advantages of sending their youngsters to pre-kindergarten and different early studying applications, they is perhaps extra more likely to signal them up. 

“It is greater than studying tales and altering bums and taking part in video games of tag. I do know quite a lot of early childhood educators, we have been working to get the message out, that that is a lot extra,” she mentioned. “We’re scaffolding studying, we’re the place their pursuits lie and constructing on these, and making an attempt to assist them grow to be these lovely little people that may go on to achieve success in the remainder of their life.

“Analysis would inform us {that a} baby who attends constantly for at least 15 hours, that units them on a superb path as they proceed their studying journey by means of the years after that,” added Gillis. 

‘Numbers will improve’ 

Gillis maintains her division has adequately promoted the pre-Okay program, and can proceed to take action all through the summer season. 

“We do anticipate the numbers will improve from yr to yr, as extra folks grow to be conscious of this program and what’s out there to them,” she mentioned.