I’ve written before about the prospect of full day kindergarten in Ontario, and now we know that the province plans to offer the new program to 35,000 children by next fall, with all children able to head to school all day in five years. Cheryl Jackson, over at TVO Parents, juxtaposed Ontario’s decision to increase education funding and school days through full day kindergarten with Hawaii’s move to cut 17 days from the school year by having 4 day school weeks (see Maclean’s article).
Naturally this also ties into recent interviews with Charles Pascal and Kathleen Wynne on Jackson’s Your Voice program.
Pascal, the Special Advisor on Early Learning, and Wynne, the Minister of Education, made compelling cases for increased funding for and investment in education – in our children – not only carries significant payback but is perhaps necessary in this recession to ensure we are preparing today’s youngsters for the challenges of tomorrow.
Given all the rumbling and grumbling about the plan to change the way the province handles kindergarten it’s an interesting contrast Jackson makes to Hawaii, where budget deficits are essentially being erased by the children who need investment most.
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