Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are also addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I want to follow up on my statement and discuss a proposed action within that Education Renewal and Innovation document. I talked to it in my statement that it seems that the department and the Minister are suggesting and fairly firm on going forward with junior kindergarten. The document that we have that was tabled talks about poor learning readiness. I’d like to reiterate my feeling in my statement that we don’t get learning readiness if we start at age four; we get it if we start at age zero.
I’d like to ask the Minister how the decision to go forward with junior kindergarten was reached. He referenced an article from the United Kingdom which says that it’s wonderful. I’ve seen several articles in the last month or so which indicate that junior kindergarten and kindergarten are not all that great. They are good for two years, but beyond that not.
How did the department and the Minister reach the decision that junior kindergarten was the way to go and where we should spend our money? Thank you.