School board forwards preference for all-day kindergartens to Ministry of Education
October 29th, 2009
John McDonald
Kelowna.com

With one change, Central Okanagan school trustees voted Wednesday to approve the list of schools superintendent Hugh Gloster presented to them as suitable for all-day Kindergarten….

A further 23 schools, however, have met the requirements set out by the Ministry of Education, which has vowed to make all-day Kindergarten available to at least 50 per cent of the province’s Kindergarten-aged kids for September 2010, with the balance a year later.

“The government now has to make the decision of how many they are going to fund,” Cacchioni added.

Despite its fiscal reservations, the chairman said the board generally supports early childhood education programs like all-day Kindergarten.

“It’s known that 25 per cent of kids coming into the school system aren’t ready,” Cacchioni added. “They may be lacking emotionally, physically, perceptually and other areas. This will help address those shortcomings.”…