Invest in early childhood education or Canada will fall behind
Canada is way behind other developed nations in early childhood education and needs a big shift in approach to lift families out of poverty and keep our country competitive in a changing knowledge economy.
That’s the message behind a new report, the fourth iteration of the early years study that brought about changes like extending parental leave from six months to a year (back in 2000) and Ontario’s full-day kindergarten starting at age four. It’s vital that policy makers heed the advice in the report and make quality preschool education available for all children. That’s going to take the political will to overcome the common misconception that child care programs benefit only working mothers instead of absolutely all of us.
Funded by the Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation, Early Years Study 4 calls on the federal government to invest an additional $8 billion annually on early childhood education, increasing current funding by a billion a year until it reaches $20 billion. The return on that investment in increased income tax revenue and lower spending on social services for struggling families would be $6 for every $1 spent, it says.
Read more: https://www.thestar.com/life/parent/opinion/2020/03/05/invest-in-early-c...
