Excerpts from the report:
In the spring of 2005, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services established the Expert Panel on Quality and Human Resources, chaired by Professor Donna Lero, Jarislowsky Chair in Families and Work, University of Guelph, to provide advice on quality and human resource issues. The Expert Panel's objectives were to strengthen the quality of early learning and care services by identifying strategies to:
- attract, retain and develop a knowledgeable, committed, qualified early learning and care workforce
- determine the education/qualifications practitioners need to meet the needs of children and their families
- address deficiencies in compensation, working conditions and status of the child care sector
- integrate child care and education professionals in early learning and care settings (preschool, kindergarten).
The Panel's report &em; Investing in Quality: Polices, Practitioners, Programs and Parents -- is based on an extensive review of the literature in Canada and internationally, on data provided by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and other sources about the workforce, on the work of the Child Care Human Resources Sector Council, and on the collective professional expertise and experience of Panel members. It also takes into account recent reports from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which reviewed global trends in early childhood education and care services, and recommended strategies to improve the quality of early learning and care programs.
The Panel's recommendations will enhance early development for all children in the province, stabilize the early learning and care workforce, strengthen communities, and help Ontario reap the social and economic benefits of investing in young children.