Unfortunately, Minister, that doesn’t give me any comfort at all. What I heard you say is that we’re going to require the same certification as other teachers, and what I am trying to say is that early childhood educators do not require the same certification as teachers. They may require a degree, but they require a degree in early childhood education, they don’t require a degree in teaching elementary or high school. They are different and I

really am concerned that here we are at the end of February, and I think the department is expecting that in September we are going to have people that are going to be qualified and trained to take on junior kindergarten and kindergarten, and I just don’t think that is on.

The other thing I heard you say is that we are going to train the people who are currently teaching in the authorities, so that tells me we are not going to be adding staff for junior kindergarten, that tells me we are going to be moving junior kindergarten students in with kindergarten students that are already there. In terms of numbers, it’s probably doable. Maybe there are 10 kids in kindergarten and you can add three or four JKs. Sure, from a numbers perspective that’s good, but from a teaching perspective and from an education perspective and a childhood development perspective, it’s not good. We need to have people who are able to differentiate between grade teaching and early childhood development. I am not sensing that the department is really willing to go there.

The other thing that really concerns me is that it’s difficult. I guess my question to the Minister is: How are you going to staff junior kindergarten? Are they going to be a stand-alone class or are they going to be combined with kindergarten students? Thank you.