Nova Scotia pre-primary classes will be up and running by end of week says education minister

Nova Scotia’s education minister says the government’s promised expansion of pre-primary classes for four-year-olds will be completely up and running by the end of this week.

Zach Churchill says a full complement of early childhood educators has been hired to teach in all 50 classes in 43 locations across the province.

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Churchill, who made the announcement today at a pre-primary class in Lower Sackville, says an additional two classes will also open within the first two weeks of October, bringing the total number of classes this year to 52.

He says 818 children have enrolled for the pre-primary program.

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Churchill says the next step is a consultation process later this fall with the private non-profit sector, during which the groundwork will be laid for phase two of the rollout, which will tentatively see another 70 classes added to the system next September.

He says the initial startup cost for the 52 classes is $6.5 million, or about $125,000 per class.