B.C. children need full-day kindergarten now
Times Colonist (Victoria)
February 23, 2009
Comment By: Scott Mason

The throne speech confirmed full-day kindergarten is on hold. I find this truly disappointing.

My six-year-old daughter attends a two-hour French immersion kindergarten class at Deep Cove Elementary. This is not enough time to adequately prepare a child for entry into grade school, let alone to start learning French.

B.C. teachers have acknowledged that a full day of kindergarten would better prepare our children for grade school and would produce a higher graduation rate.

Given our current economic situation, school districts are hard pressed to offer full-day kindergarten. They would fall short of space. Since governments feel the best way to stimulate our economy is to build infrastructure, this would be the opportune time to build more spaces.

I find it hard to understand why we have unlimited financial resources to put on an Olympic sporting event. My daughter will undoubtedly be paying for this. The least we can do is offer her a decent education that prepares her for her future, starting with kindergarten.

It's time to put our children first. Make full-day kindergarten a priority.