CSAP remains committed to pre-primary program, despite province’s cancellation of it

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

While the province has said it can’t afford to continue a pre-primary program, the province’s Francophone school board says it can’t afford not to.

For the past three years the province has been offering, for free, a pre-primary program at 19 pilot sites in Nova Scotia. This has involved two to three sites per school board.

Initially the intention had been to see whether the school readiness program could be expanded into all elementary schools.

Since then the province has changed the registration cutoff date for children entering Grade Primary, meaning starting in the upcoming school year more children will be entering school at an earlier age.

The education department says there isn’t enough funding to change the date of eligibility for school and keep operating the pre-primary program, despite the program’s success.

But at the Conseil scolaire provincial acadien (CSAP) the intention is to carry on with the program, which this year was available at eight CSAP schools across the province. Two of the schools were part of the original pilot, the other six were added by the board.

Richard Landry, a spokesperson for the Acadian school board, says it’s always been the CSAP’s position that the pre-primary program is needed in its schools, although not for the same reason the English boards were interested in it.

The CSAP has expanded the program on its own initiative for linguistic reasons.

“At the CSAP we have students coming into primary that are not really strong in French,” says Landry. “The pre-primary program is specifically aimed at a program that would prepare the students better for Grade Primary instead of having almost completely Anglophone students coming into the schools.”

The board does not provide transportation for these children, who are also responsible for providing their own lunch and snacks.

Landry says the two schools that were part of the pilot are impacted by the province’s withdrawal of the program, but the CSAP – which was looking at the possibility of adding two more schools to the program in the coming school year – hopes to continue the program at those sites.

Meanwhile the Tri-County Regional School Board will be looking at the implications of the cancellation of the program. It had two pilot sites, one in Carleton, Yarmouth County and another in Digby County. The board has been getting a lot of inquiries from people wanting to see the program continue at Carleton school and the area MLA, Richard Hurlburt, is working with the school board to see if a community group can be found to carry on with the program.