Kindergarten teachers have been welcomed into the public school system by their future coworkers with an overwhelmingly positive response as demonstrated by last night’s vote by the members of the PEI Teachers Federation (PEITF), said Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Doug Currie.
“This is an important step forward in our kindergarten transition process,” said Minister Currie. “This means that we will be able to answer a number of questions that have been on the minds of many parents, kindergarten teachers and school board officials. I am very pleased that this step in the process is complete and we can move forward to continue to strengthen our educational system, which will support our one island community and one island future.”
This agreement means that school boards can now issue offer letters to successful kindergarten teacher candidates. These kindergarten teachers will be able to provide letters to the UPEI Registrar’s Office in order to be officially accepted into the new B.Ed. Program.
School boards will assign kindergarten teachers to schools based on the needs of the students; the skills and experience of the team in the school; and, as much as possible, the school preferences provided by the candidate. Once kindergarten teachers are assigned to schools, they will be contacted by their principal as soon as possible to begin preparing for the arrival of students in September. That preparation includes scheduling the Welcome to Kindergarten sessions, which will give parents and kindergarten students the opportunity to meet their teacher.
“I am excited about bringing kindergarten into the public school system. This is the largest educational initiative in the modern history of our province and I am proud to be a part of it,” said Minister Currie. “I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new kindergarten teachers. I know their expertise and experience in early learning will be a terrific asset to our Island’s public school system.”
Some terms of the agreement with the PEITF include:
• The new kindergarten teachers will operate under a letter of authority from the Certification and Standards Board until they complete their B.Ed. and receive teacher certification.
• Kindergarten educators will have limited mobility. They will be restricted to transfer solely to other kindergarten positions for a minimum of three years and those who do not have a B.Ed. will not be eligible to teach other grades until they become a certified teacher.
• Kindergarten educators who currently have a B.Ed. will not be able to teach outside of kindergarten until 2013/14. During this time, they will receive first consideration for any positions that are going to be open to the public.
• Bilingual early childhood educators will have an opportunity to compete for French and French immersion kindergarten teacher positions.
• During the next three years, any kindergarten position not filled by the kindergarten educators will be open to transfer for teachers in Grades 1 through 12.