EXCERPTS
Laurie Monsebraaten's story on Ontario's child care regulations highlights many excellent points about why we should be very concerned about plans to put infants and toddlers in larger groups with fewer staff per child.
I would like to add that this is not the only proposal in the regulation package that warrants concern or - at least - further study and consultation. The regulation proposals also include a raft of other changes including: changing staffing ratios and group sizes in school-age care; introducing multi-age groupings; and removing current rules that limit regulated family child care providers to three children under three years old.
Together with the changes to infant and toddler care, this represents a major overhaul of what child care will look like in the province. Changes of this importance deserve a robust and open study and consultation process to get them right.
Carolyn Ferns, Toronto
- reprinted from the Toronto Star