Provincial and federal officials stopped by the South End Daycare in Saint John on Monday to talk up their One-Time Quality Improvement Grant program.
The province says more than 500 early learning and child care centres have received grants to help improve indoor and outdoor learning environments for children five and under.
At least half the grant must be used to enhance or create more natural outdoor play spaces for children.
Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long says one of his government’s biggest priorities is eradicating poverty, and investing in these centres will help do that.
Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long discusses the connection between investing in early learning/child care and eliminating poverty. pic.twitter.com/5JfY6OdqdV
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) July 23, 2018
“If we can transform youth’s minds, stimulate those minds early, that will follow them through the school curriculum, they’re ready when they reach school,” says Long.
He says his government is convinced that the way to eradicate poverty is to invest in early learning and child care.
The South End Daycare received just over $6,000 in grants and is one of 89 centres in the Saint John area to receive funding so far.
Executive director Mona Clark says they used the money to enhance the centre’s outdoor play space.
Mona Clark of the Saint John Daycare talks about the importance of $6,000 in grants they received. pic.twitter.com/Fr2e22oUNO
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) July 23, 2018
“We’ve built a music wall and all the equipment with that, a farm area, we improved on the kitchen centre, we got a mud kitchen built, easels,” says Clark. “The children can now come outside and really do programming right outside in the yard.”
The deadline to apply for the grant for 2018-19 is Feb. 28, 2019, and it’s available to all licensed facilities offering services to preschool children aged five and under that have become designated New Brunswick Early Learning Centres.
MLA Rick Doucet says more than 500 early learning and child care centres have benefited from the program to date. pic.twitter.com/O2zVDE74Ei
— Brad Perry (@BradMPerry) July 23, 2018
