Pre-Kindergarten classrooms across the province are getting upgraded. In the first wave of upgrades, $1.7 million was spent in 57 schools to improve these rooms. In the Christ the Teacher School Division, the improvements went to St. Mary's School in Yorkton and St. Henry's Jr. School in Melville. In the Good Spirit School Division, Dr. Brass and Columbia Schools received the funding. Minister of Education Donna Harpauer was recently at St. Mary's School to tour the facilities and announce further funding for the Pre-K classes.
The announcement of extra funding sees $788,000 go to Pre-K classrooms in 43 schools in 22 communities. The school in the Good Spirit School Division which benefits from this expansion is Victoria School in Kamsack.
The room at St. Mary's School is designed around the kids, and the renovations were focused around the washroom facilities. The new room features fixtures that are smaller and lower, to make it easier for children to use.
"This makes it easier for the teachers, and the workers with the students, since it's a more student-appropriate bathroom, but it's just a more pleasant home environment for our kids. The more they are comfortable the more they're going to learn," Harpauer notes.
Harpauer says that the Saskatchewan Party government believes starting early is an important part of getting the best education for children.
"We've expanded the program in the last four years by about 40 per cent. We are firmly committed to having expansions to Pre-K programs across the province. We believe it is extremely important to have that available to parents, not only to capture what we deem the "vulnerable children," but for all children in their early years. It's been proven time and time again that the three and four year olds is a critical time in children's development. If we can have more programs available for those students, I think it's to the advantage to our education system," Harpauer says.
The province is committed to continued expansion of Pre-K programs, as many communities in the province still have waiting lists, including Yorkton. In the Christ the Teacher School Division, there are five programs with 16 children in each program, but there are still approximately 25 kids on wait list.
"There are a number of communities that do have waiting lists, so we are going to continue. We have to be mindful of a number of factors as we expand, one being the availability of staff to staff the new Pre-K programs, and another to have the physical facility to house the program and of course the physical capacity of the province," Harpauer concludes.
