RECOMMENDATIONS – EXCERPT
• Develop a province-wide strategy on affordable, accessible, and quality child care options for British Columbians, and consider providing additional funds for child care.
The Committee recommends that the government:
• Immediately allocate necessary resources to eliminate the waitlists for assessments of children and youth with special needs. Furthermore, the government should provide funding for a comprehensive pre-screening program for all children.
EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS
As in previous years, the broad theme of education ranked highly amongst the public’s priorities. This year, the budget consultation questionnaire grouped kindergarten-to-grade twelve education in with post-secondary education offered by B.C.’s universities and colleges.
Unlike last year, in which the Committee received hundreds of submissions on how to improve elementary and secondary school education, the majority of presentations this year focussed on early assessment funding, child care, English-as-a-second-language funding, and post-secondary education.
Early Assessment Funding
With respect to British Columbia’s younger students, we heard of a pressing need for the government to provide greater resources in the area of early assessment for children with special needs.