N.W.T. pledges $2M in new funding for revamped junior kindergarten rollout

The Government of the Northwest Territories has backed off on a demand for schools in the territory to offer junior kindergarten without any extra funding.

Officials from the Education department announced details of the new junior kindergarten rollout plan on Monday.

"We are going to invest or infuse the education system with $2 million [annually] in new funding," said Olin Lovely, theassistant deputy minister responsible for the project.

"We are looking to the education authorities to fund $2.6 millioninternally through a reallocation of the resources we provide them."

Another $3.4 million will be coming from the territory to pay for renovations to existing school facilities.

The news comes after a nearly two-year pause in bringing junior kindergarten classes to N.W.T. schools. Right now 19 of 49 public schools offer junior kindergarten.

The program stalled after the initial rollout in 2014 due to concerns about how it was being funded, and whether it was duplicating services offered by other organizations such as Aboriginal Head Start and private daycares.An external consulting company was hired to study it.

• N.W.T. schools to offer junior kindergarten with no extra cash
• Public consultations on N.W.T. junior kindergarten to follow $150K review

"Any way we can strengthen early childhood education, from prenatal to five years old, worldwide research will tell you that's the best bang for your buck," said Rita Mueller, an assistant deputy minister with the education department.

She saidresearch in the N.W.T suggests53 per cent of children in the communities without junior kindergarten are falling behind on basic social skills.

Mueller said the goal is to cut that number in half to reach the Canadian standard of 25 per cent.

Significant improvement

John Stephenson, chair of the YellowknifeEducation District No. 1 board, said its schools havebeen offering a user-pay program for four-year-olds for yearsand that a transition to full junior kindergarten would be a "positive move."

"Our number one concern has been the funding," he said.

With thisannouncement, Stephenson said the funding formula has "improved significantly."He said the new $2 million in annual funding for junior kindergarten indicates "the government has heard us but there's still a significant cost to N.W.T. school boards."

Reallocatingexisting school funding to junior kindergarten would likely result infewer teachers for other grades, he said.

He saidschool board chairs at a recent meeting agreed theysupportjunior kindergarten but still thinkthe government should provide full funding for it.