Latest news with #earlylearning
CTV News
3 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Carleton North daycare facility to receive funding from New Brunswick government
The Step Ahead – Bath Family Learning Centre is receiving funding towards building a new educational daycare facility from the Government of New Brunswick. The centre, located in Carleton North, will receive $840,000 to support construction of an accessible 743-square metre facility. 'This funding will reduce waitlists and open more doors to ensure families in this region receive the services they need for their children,' said Environment and Climate Change Minister Gilles LePage, who is also minister responsible for the Regional Development Corporation. 'This space will give children more learning opportunities, and help families access affordable childcare.' The initiative has also received support from the local community and $500,000 from the federal government through the Canada-New Brunswick Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. The agreement is committed to creating 3,400 new designated early learning childcare spaces by March 31, 2026. 'I am incredibly proud to see the Step Ahead – Bath Family Learning Centre becoming a reality,' said Carleton North Mayor Andrew Harvey. 'This new daycare facility will be a game-changer for our local families, offering high-quality and affordable childcare right here in our community. It will mean that more children will have access to early-learning opportunities, which will help establish the foundation for their lifelong success.' The facility will offer child-care services for six infants, 56 children aged two to four, 10 preschoolers and 45 after-school participants. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
The Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- The Herald
Improving ECD must be a national priority
Sesame Workshop managing director Dr Onyinye Nwaneri said ECD was often mistakenly seen as a social welfare issue rather than a catalyst for long-term growth. 'It's an understandable, but flawed perception that underestimates the profound economic benefits that investment in ECD can bring,' she said. SA faces a major access gap — more than a million children aged three to five are not enrolled in early learning programmes. Citing global research, Nwaneri said that for every rand spent on ECD, returns of up to 13% could be expected. 'These returns come from improved educational performance, increased employment opportunities, higher lifetime earnings and reduced social costs,' she said. Despite these benefits, SA allocates just 0.5% of its total government expenditure to early learning. 'This level of funding remains untenably low, and this will continue to limit the potential economic and social benefits that could be realised through more significant investment into the lives and development of SA's young children,' Nwaneri said. She noted that targeted ECD investment could generate 670,000 new jobs and empower women, who make up 95% of the ECD workforce. 'Studies suggest that each new ECD position enables six to 10 other women to pursue employment because they have reliable childcare,' she said. University of Johannesburg education expert Mary Metcalfe reinforced the urgency of the situation, highlighting the long-term consequences of poor foundational literacy. 'Children who cannot read for meaning by grade 4 fall further and further behind as the curriculum depends on the independent reading of text across all subjects,' she said, referencing the department of basic education's 2022 Systemic Evaluation, which found that only 20% of grade 3 pupils could read at the required level. Metcalfe said inequality in early reading success mirrored systemic inequalities: overcrowded classrooms, a lack of reading materials and under-resourced teachers. 'While the department of basic education aims for a limit of 45 learners in a class, in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape, more than 20% of grade 3 teachers reported having classes larger than 70. 'Only 46% of grade 3 children had language textbooks. Reading is not just about education; it's about justice and opportunity,' Metcalfe said. She called for targeted funding, better teacher support and widespread access to books in home languages as non-negotiable priorities. 'Investment in improving literacy in the foundation years must be a national priority. 'This must go beyond broad declarations of intent and be visible in evidence-based planning aligned to realistic assessments of resource needs,' she said. Both Nwaneri and Metcalfe argued that improving ECD and foundational literacy must be a national priority backed by strategic investment and public-private collaboration. 'This is not just the right thing to do socially, it's the smartest economic choice SA can make,' Nwaneri said. This special report into the state of literacy, a collaborative effort by The Herald, Sowetan and Daily Dispatch, was made possible by the Henry Nxumalo Foundation
