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Education Minister Liz Sandals visited full-day kindergarten students, teachers and staff at Ogden Junior Public School for the first day of school where she provided details on a study conducted in partnership with Queen's and McMaster universities on FDK. The study measured the progress and development of students who were enrolled in FDK compared to those who participated in half-day programs.

The province is opening early years centres in four communities to provide families with more access to services and supports for young children. Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Ramona Jennex announced the locations of the province's first early years centres today, Aug. 22, at Rockingstone Heights School, the site for the Halifax Regional School Board's centre.

Excerpt: "The parents of Eva Ravikovich are trying to drag a small good out of a huge wrong. They are using the courts to hold the province of Ontario accountable for the death of their little daughter in an overcrowded, unsanitary daycare. Precedence indicates they may get some small respite. Eva is not the first toddler to die in an unlicensed facility. Each time an official inquiry has chastised the province for the dearth of safe child choices and urged it to do better. In turn, Queen’s Park responds by adding a few more daycare spaces, a few more government controls."

Excerpt: "This experimental program is being implemented is 2013 seven of the nine English School Boards of Québec."

Excerpt: "Data on maternal employment rates are presented both by age of youngest child and by the number of dependent children under age 15. Employment rates refer to the annual average calculated from various national employment or household surveys and from the European Labour Force Survey. There is yet no comprehensive regular annual data collection of maternal (or parental) employment across OECD countries. Data are presented for 2009 or the most recent year available (see the comparability and data issues section for details on the definition of paid employment)."

The Government has now concluded the first phase of consultation on a proposed framework for legislation on First Nations elementary and secondary education. As the consultation process moves forward, the Government has released a Blueprint for Legislation which sets out the Government of Canada’s proposed approach to a First Nation Education Act and has been informed by the work of the National Panel on First Nation Elementary and Secondary Education, and recent consultations undertaken between December 2012 and May 2013.

Findings from the United Kingdom's Effective Provision of Pre-School Education Study.

Findings from the United Kingdom's Effective Provision of Pre-School Education Study.

Liz Sandals, Minister of Education, issued the following statement on the review of unlicensed child care complaints: "As I committed to last week, my ministry has conducted a thorough review of every complaint received related to unlicensed child care providers over the past year to determine compliance with current policies. The ministry took immediate action to determine whether there were any complaints that had not been addressed. Out of a total of 280 complaints received by the ministry over the past year, it was determined that nine had not been responded to with a site visit.

The Manitoba government is investing in the health of mothers and babies through the Healthy Baby Program, Children and Youth Opportunities Minister Kevin Chief announced July 3, 2013. “The Healthy Baby Program supports moms and their families early and gives them financial and community support,” said Chief. “Early childhood development programs, like Healthy Baby Manitoba, have shown they give babies a strong start by increasing moms’ access to prenatal care, increased breastfeeding rates and decreased number of preterm births.”

Excerpt: "The Alberta Approach to Early Childhood Development aims to change that by improving supports and services so that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Our plan is to create connected networks rooted in communities – to build a systematic approach to early childhood development that ensures every Alberta baby, toddler, child, and their family has access to high quality programs and services. Our plan means working together more effectively. The Ministries of Human Services, Health and Education are collaborating with each other and with communities to make this happen."

Beginning July 2013, 510,000 families will receive an increase of up to $110 and 24,000 families will become eligible for the Ontario Child Benefit for the first time. This additional support will help families with the cost of food, clothing, recreation and other necessities. The benefit will increase in July 2013 to a maximum annual payment of $1,210 for each child, and then to $1,310 in July 2014.