CALGARY- Supporters of full-day kindergarten in Alberta are sounding the alarm after the province hinted the necessary funding may be a long way off.
The Alberta government promised the money nearly three years ago, but it appears families with preschool age children will have to wait even longer.
Premier Jim Prentice has warned that falling oil prices have dropped provincial revenues by up to $16 billion over the next three years.
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A new cancer centre has already been delayed as a result and now it appears other initiatives, like government-funded, all-day daycare will also suffer.
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“We may need to make some tough decisions for the upcoming budget. As full-day kindergarten is not currently funded, a proposal to do so would require us to potentially stop funding other programs in order to support the initiative,” says education minister Gordon Dirks.
Supporters of full-time kindergarten have said the project shouldn’t suffer as a result of falling oil prices. They claim studies demonstrate such programs enrich education and give children a strong foundation in early life.
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“Those first 5 or 6 years are incredibly important for children to succeed in the future so recognizing that investing our time and energy when they are younger is critically important. We hope the government will consider that,” explained Julie Hrdlicka of Public Interest Alberta.
The Calgary Public School Board already offers half-day kindergarten, with full-day classes in just over a dozen schools. Demand is very high and a lottery system is used to place students.
23 schools in the Calgary Catholic Board also offer full-time kindergarten.
Under Alison Redford the PC government promised full-day kindergarten in 2012, pledging that the government would foot the entire estimated cost of $200 million.
The party planned to roll out full-day kindergarten by fall 2013, but the plan was shelved.
Now school boards across Alberta will have to wait for the new spring provincial budget in march to find out if they will get any funding at all.
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