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10 Tuesday October 13 2015 POLITICS CHILD CARE The Department of Education Culture and Employment ECE wishes to congratulate the recipients of the 5000 Right from the Start Early Childhood Development Scholarship ECE recognizes the importance of well trained early childhood educators and values all those who have pursued careers in early childhood development. Congratulations This scholarship is part of the ongoing work of the Right from the Start Early Childhood Development Framework and Action Plan. For more information visit rightfromthestart.ca or check out our Facebook page at Facebook.comNWTRightFromTheStart Brigitte Cockney Hay River Marilou Dela Cruz - Yellowknife Katrina Drybones Behchoko Brittanie Gladue Fort Smith Brenda Hotte-Joyce Yellowknife Jessica Kenny Deline Brittinee Lafferty Hay River Jessica Landry Yellowknife Teale MacIntosh Yellowknife Ariana Rabesca Behchoko Elizabeth Rowlandson Yellowknife Shaina Sabourin Fort Providence Jordan Shortt Yellowknife Ashley Squires-Rowe Hay River Vanita Zoe Behchoko By CRAIG GILBERT The spectre of universal child care in the Northwest Territories lurched out of the ether once more last week. OnOct.7InuvikBootLake MLA Alfred Moses chair of the standing committee on social programs lamented in the legislature that there has beensoverylittledebate on a feasibility study on univer- sal subsidized child care in theNWTsinceitwastabledin that very house June 4. ThereportpreparedbyUni- versityofTorontoscientistsfor theGNWTestimatesitwould take a 175 per-cent funding hikeorabout21millionmore everyyeartocreateauniversal affordablechildcareprogram similartoQuebecswherepar- ents pay 7 per day per child. Thatgovernmentcovers85 per cent of the cost of child care.Thestudyalsocompared systems in Denmark 80 per centNorway85percentand Sweden 95 per cent. Moses latched on to an- other number in the report 2007whichisthelasttimethe amount of money the GNWT transfers to agencies provid- ing child care was increased. EducationCultureandEm- ployment Minister Jackson Lafferty said the government isawareofthethecostfactor the ripple effects across the NorthwestTerritorieswhether it comes to infrastructure or theprogramaccessibilityand the contribution agreement adding the issue would be the 18th Assemblys to deal with. Moseswasnotsatisfiedwith thatanswernotingMLAshave been raising concerns with the contribution agreement onanumberofoccasionsand in almost every year of the assembly. Idliketoaskhimwillthat be reviewed and will an in- crease be forthcoming before the18thAssemblyheasked. Can the Minister as hes still Universal child care study deserves purposeful attention says MLA atAuroraCollegeasasolution includingalackoflocalteach- ersthelengthoftimestudents aretakingtocompletethepro- gram and the low number of graduates. Staff wanting to obtain an ECE diploma or degree must leave the NWT the report stated. This can be prohibi- tive particularly for those with children. In addition Teaching through teleconfer- ence has become the norm in a professional environment thatispoisedtodelivercourses through online training. Territory-wide in 2014 31 staff were working with chil- dreninlicenseddaycarepro- grams with no post-second- ary education an additional 33 staff were enrolled in ECE courses. Another 27 had ECE certificates15hadECEdiplo- mas three had ECE degrees and seven had a bachelors degree in education. So were working with the collegetoidentifythoseneeds inthecommunitiesLafferty said. Now were working with the college to make that happen. Aurora College president JaneArychuksaidthereare85 students working on an ECE certificate right now. She said theprogramworksforthestu- dentstheirfamiliesandtheir homecommunitiesintermsof both the rate of graduation four completed the program last year and the length of time it takes them since a large number of the students arealsoworkingfull-timeand supportingfamilies.Manyare upgrading because their em- ployer required them to. We had one graduate who took 15 years to complete the programandshewasjustasex- citedasifshehadtakenjustone yearArychuksaid.Werenot meeting the numbers needed but are providing ECE educa- tion in a number of different ways to the NWT public. in his role as Minister of Edu- cation Culture and Employ- mentnowseeitinadocument to make those changesbefore the18thAssemblyHestillhas that option. Moses also pushed for the childcaretaxbenefittobemore closelyalignedwiththeactual cost of daycare so more single parentshavetheoptiontoenter the workforce. Atthehighendofthestudys estimates the government would reap as much as 2 million in income taxes from the more than 700 parents who would be able to enter theworkforceiftheycouldaf- ford child care representing an increase of seven per cent oraboutaquarter-billiondol- larstotheNWTsGDP.There is also the implied benefit of Lafferty said that benefit program is a work in progress thathasroomforimprovement. Whenitcomestothechild- carebenefitsversusthedaycare the subsidy that we currently provide it has been work ed over a number of years he said.Theresalwaysroomfor improvementaswell.Theseare discussions that obviously we needtohavewiththechildcare operators with the organiza- tionsthatweworkwithacross the Northwest Territories. Thefeasibilitystudyincluded interviewswith160parentsof children aged 0-11 in licenced or unlicenced care. Earlychildhoodeducation andcareECECisassociated withawiderangeofbenefits thereportreads.ECECisajob creator in its own right while supportingparentsastheywork or upgrade their skills. It pro- vides a means of welcoming new immigrant and minority familiesasitoffersopportuni- tiesforinclusionandbyidenti- fyingproblemsandintervening early ECEC decreases special education costs. fewer people on social assis- tance as research has shown areductioninthecostofchild care can have a large effect on welfare participation. This has implications for the NWT as there were 493 individualswithchildrenages four years and younger on income assistance in 2013 2014 the report states. The provision of universal child care in the NWT will signifi- cantlyreducethecostofchild care for these individuals and therefore it is predicted that there will be a decrease in the number of individu- als with children using social assistance. Inordertorealizethoseben- efits the number of child care professionalsintheNWTmay have to increase by as much as 100 per cent or about 250 positions to supervise the 7181415 licenced spaces thatwouldneedtobecreated increasing the total stock by between 56 and 111 per cent. The study cites challenges with using the one-year early childhoodcertificateprogram PhotoDonJaque Were not meeting the numbers needed but we are providing ECE education in a number of ways to the NWT public. Jane Arychuk Aurora College Contact Cascade Graphics at 867 872-3000 or graphicsnorj.ca 207 McDougal Rd Fort Smith NT We offer a range of custom design services You name it well print it A study into universal child care in the NWT would give parents like those of this Aboriginal Head Start graduating class the ability to re-enter the workforce without it costing them an arm and a leg.