W H AT W E K N O W A B O U T E F F E C T I V E E A R LY C H I L D H O O D S Y S T E M S : A C O N T E X T F O R B C

University of British Columbia

HELP Talk January 23, 2020

Jane Beach

1. Key features of early childhood education and care in Canada

▪ Who is responsible for what

▪ Strengths and challenges

Effective ECEC systems

▪ Common elements

▪ Examples from Norway

2.

Overview of presentation

• Maternity and parental benefits

• Federal payments to families

• Child Care Expense Deductions

• Federal transfer payments to provinces and territories

• ECEC for specific populations

Preschool

Parenting programs

and supports

Child carecentres

Family child care

Family Resource

Strong Start

Maternity parental

leave

Kinder-garten

Parents and

children

Federal provincial territorial supports for early childhoodFederal

Province of British Columbia

What’s in a name and why does it matter?

Early Childhood Education and Care

Usually refers to programs that children attend without their parents/caregivers prior to compulsory school age

Often occurs in licensed child care and preschool, and in kindergarten

Child care also has a purpose of supporting labour force participation of parents

ECEC in British Columbia

▪ Multiple ministries are involved

▪ The regulatory environment is complex

▪ Two distinct approacheso Publicly delivered programs under

Education

o Privately delivered programs usually under Ministry of Children and Family Development

▪ Canada has low level of spending and provision compared to other countries

Early Childhood Education and Care in BC

Characteristic ECEC under Education ECEC under MCFD

Coverage/participationClose to 100% of five-year olds in

kindergartenLess than 25%

Financing Publicly fundedUser pay with limited public funding

to non-profit and for profit entities

Cost to parents No direct cost in public schoolsRange from $0 to more than

$2,500/month

Who operates? School Boards (public schools)Individuals, companies, non-profit

societies

PlanningPublic planning; population-based, public

ownership of facilities

Limited public planning; up to operators to come forward and open

facilities

Role of parentsNo formal role; not intended to support

labour force participationMay be employer, full-day child care

intended to support LFP

Sustainability Strong infrastructure, system is fundedChanges with political climate;

market approach

The market will not provide equitable access to quality, affordable child care

▪ Reliance on individual initiatives and solutions

▪ Limited public planning and management

▪ Uneven and inequitable delivery – child care

deserts

▪ Child care as a commodity results in “spaces”

▪ Regulation as a proxy for quality

▪ User pay and demand side funding with

“grants” a barrier to participation

▪ Limited planning - service providers decide

when, where and how to set up, and shut down

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2018. Child Care Deserts in Canada

Building a system …

Requires simultaneous focus on multiple elements

QualityFinancing

Expansion

Child care services

Creating spaces…

With a single focus on expansion

VisionPolicy framework

Targets and timetables

Is the space occupied?Who has access? Who is operating

the program?Is the staffing appropriate?

Is it of high quality?Is it sustainable?

✓ The strong public infrastructure of Education

✓ Early Learning Framework

✓ Commitment to Reconciliation - building on knowledge

and experiences of First Peoples

✓ Strong advocates for children – Child Care Now, the

Canadian Child Care Federation, CCCABC, ECEBC, unions, Gen Squeeze, First Call and others

✓ Research capacity and activities of post-secondary institutions, such as the Human Early Learning

Partnership at UBC

✓ Some high quality provision

✓ Current commitment towards universal child care

Building on our Strengths

Beyond our borders: international influences on ECEC

▪ UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

▪ European Commission 40 quality targets

▪ OECD Thematic Review of ECEC and subsequent Starting Strong research

▪ UNICEF Benchmarks – the Child Care Transition

▪ Barcelona Objectives and Targets

Common characteristics of countries with high quality, universal child care

✓ Child care part of larger set of social, economic and educational supports

✓ Low child poverty rates

✓ Planning for the long term

✓ Legal entitlement

✓ Majority of services are publicly delivered, including family child care

✓ Parental portion of total costs low and capped

✓ Use of informal care is low

✓ Bachelor degree qualification requirements for educators increasing

✓ Average OECD daily contact time with children – 4-6 hours in 17 of 25 countries with available data

✓ Majority of staff and family child care providers municipal employees

✓ Wage scales

✓ Support for continuous learning

✓ Usually specified educator and assistant roles, with related educational requirements and wages

Common characteristics of countries with high quality, universal child care: staffing

Example of Norway

▪ Valuing childhood and families

▪ High labour force participation of mothers

▪ Maternity and parental leave aligned with entitlement to “kindergarten” – child care

▪ Legal entitlement to child care from the child’s first birthday

▪ Workplace leaves and benefits

▪ Cash benefit and “Cash for Care”

▪ Parents have real choices

▪ National Department of Education and Research

▪ Regulatory framework prescribed in legislation

▪ Block funding to municipalities – must ensure adequate supply

▪ Approx. 50% municipally operated

▪ County governorate oversight

▪ Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training

▪ National Committee of Parents (FUB)

▪ High rates of unionization

Norway: components of the system

Norway: Growth in provision of ECEC

▪ 84% of children 1-2 and 97% of children 3-5 are enrolled in kindergarten

▪ Common maximum fee of approx. $400/month

▪ Reduced fees for siblings and for families below a certain income – max. 6% of income

▪ 20 hours free for children 3-5 in households with incomes below approx. CAD$90,000

▪ Work family balance

Example of Norway: For families

Example of Norway: for children

From the kindergarten framework…

▪ Kindergartens shall respect and safeguard the intrinsic value of childhood

▪ All children shall be able to experience democratic participation by contributing to and

taking part in kindergarten activities regardless of their communication and language

skills

▪ The children shall learn to look after themselves, each other and nature

▪ The Framework is guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Example of Norway: Staffing

▪ Pedagogical leaders and kindergarten teachers – Bachelor degree

▪ “Skilled Workers” – 1 year upper secondary, two years experience, 1 year post

secondary

▪ No tuition fees for post secondary education

▪ All staff have the right to belong to a union

o Union of Education Norway or Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees

▪ Common wage grid: salary range – Approx. CAD $50,000-$86,000 for kindergarten

teachers depending on education and experience

▪ Defined roles for pedagogical leaders, kindergarten teachers, skilled workers and

assistants

Values reflected in day to day life in kindergarten

Learning about the impact of plastic on ocean life Learning about the UN Convention on the rights of the Child. This is about the “right to rest”

Values reflected in day to day life in kindergarten

Child care playground in Tønsberg Snack in the fire hut in Nitterdal

Reflecting on Norwegian ECEC – an “aha” moment with a set of dentures!*

✓ Ingenuity

✓ Collaboration

✓ Commitment

✓ Compromise when

in the public interest

* In the Resistance Museum. A set of dentures of a senior military officer who was prisoner of war was used to listen to the BBC.

Reflecting on Norwegian ECEC

▪ High societal support for ECEC and

support across all political parties

▪ Ongoing reflection and commitment

to enhancing quality

▪ Well qualified educators

▪ Ensuring access through effective

governance and funding

A good question is never answered. It

is not a bolt to be tightened into place

but a seed to be planted and to bear

more seed toward the hope of greening

the landscape of idea.

John Ciardi

Final thoughts