EXCERPTS:
Ontario's former early learning advisor says he has "serious concerns" about a provincial plan to allow licensed daycares to put babies and toddlers in larger groups with fewer trained staff.
"I have a huge amount of respect for Premier (Kathleen) Wynne and I know she wants to get it right," said Charles Pascal, who advised former premier Dalton McGuinty on all-day kindergarten.
"But the regulations need to reflect what we know about quality," he said in an interview. "Right now they don't, and (the province) needs to take whatever time is required to get it right."
Research shows staff training, child-staff ratios and group sizes are key to quality in child care.
"The ratios and the lack of research that underpins (the government's) choices is disturbing," Pascal said. "But for me the more disturbing issue is the lack of attention to the number of highly qualified, well-paid early learning professionals that will be in these groupings."
Pascal is the most high-profile early childhood expert to question the proposed regulatory changes, released in December after the province introduced new child-care legislation. The public has been given until Feb. 28 to submit written responses.
Education Minister Liz Sandals says the changes are in response to the final rollout of full-day kindergarten next fall and are aimed at helping daycares serve younger children, who are more costly to care for. Fewer staff per child and larger group sizes would allow centres to accommodate more children and make fees more affordable for parents, she adds.
Pascal and others have praised the legislation for tightening rules governing unregulated home daycares and highlighting quality as a central component of the government's vision for Ontario's youngest children. But they are less enthusiastic about the proposed regulations, which set out how the new law would be carried out.
Dozens of academics and advocates as well as numerous child-care operators across the province have signed an open letter to Sandals, urging her to re-think the regulations, which they say threaten quality and even safety.
About 200 child-care educators, students and operators who attended a raucous standing-room-only meeting in Toronto last week are also vowing to fight the move.
"We won't rest until this is off the table. This will be a provincial election issue. We will make sure of that," said Eduarda Sousa, of the Ontario Association of Early Childhood Educators, a professional association with 2,500 members from across the province, which wrote the letter to Sandals.
Municipalities administer child care in partnership with the province and have been pushing for more local flexibility around the rules, to help daycares stay financially viable. But they, too, have reservations.
"We've heard from our members that there are some concerns around the critical element of quality relating to group sizes and ratios," said Kira Heineck, executive director of the 47-member Ontario Municipal Social Services Association.
As a result, the association is suggesting pilot projects and other measures to ensure quality isn't compromised.
"Let's take our time, pursue cautiously and with due diligence, to get it right," Heineck said. "I know we can work together to do that."
Sandals acknowledges she has not yet "achieved consensus" on optimal child-staff ratios and group sizes, and notes that no final decision has been reached.
"Moving forward with this sector-wide conversation, we intend to develop and share the feedback on the proposed regulatory changes," she said in a statement Friday.
"As minister, I know how complex this issue is and how important it is that we get this right for Ontario families," she added.
The child-care community is calling for a review of the research and more consultation, including dialogue and debate with ministry officials on the question of group sizes and ratios. More importantly, it wants this discussion to occur in the context of other policy elements, including staff training, programming, safety, financing and facilities.
That is what happened before the current regulations were put in place 30 years ago, they say.
-reprinted from the Toronto Star