All-day kindergarten the latest casualty of economic crisis
2009-02-17
11:50 AM radio Local News Kelowna
Charmaine de Silva

The BC NDP's Education Critic says the Campbell government's decision not to move ahead with all day kindergarten shows they were never really serious about the initiative.

Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Norm McDonald says the government's reasoning of high costs and staffing shortages were predictable, and should have been thought about before the program was announced last year.

McDonald says that lack of thought is leaving parents in the lurch. While McDonald says all-day kindergarten is not the same as child-care, he knows many parents were counting on the program to compensate for escalating child-care costs.

McDonald says Education Minister Shirley Bond was never able to provide costing for the program. ….