x Teachers wary of Year 2000 VICTORIA'S NEW EDUCATIGNAL STRATEGY MEANS WV TEACHERS WILL NEED TC GO BACK TO SCHOOL HE INTRODUCTION of the new Primary Program is a good cducation ministry move, as far as West Vancouver School District. 45 superintendent of schools Doug Player is concerned. But the dual-entry program is destined to cause problems, he adds. The Primary Program, as con- tained in the education ministry’s Year 2000 document, is one of the Year 2000 highlights that Player likes. “We're very well advanced on the Primary Program,’’ Player said. ‘“‘We have been doing in-ser- vice on that now for almost two years, Every primary teacher has gone through the workshops.”’ But what about the Intermediate Program? “T classify that (Intermediate Program) as an eight on the Richter scale,*’ said Player. ‘*The ministry has not defined it. To say to a teacher that you’re now going to integrate those programs and courses is a major shock.’”” Player said there is a lot of resistance to the Intermediate Pro- gram from West Vancouver teach- ers. The program, which integrates courses, he said, will force teachers to retrain in those unfamiliar sub- ject areas that they will be required to teach under the program. “They (teachers) will need to be retrained in the methodology of teaching and that will cost money,” said Player. ‘‘{ think we're back into restraint right now. We don’t know what it (in- termediate program) is.’’ Player, who added he is ‘‘very cautious” about the program, said the school district will not enter in- to any programs that it has con- cerns about, although under the Year 2000 document, the Interme- diate Program must be in place in all B.C. schools by the fall of. 1993. “ee e . WEST Vancouver superintendent of schoots Doug Player ...Intermediate Program *‘an eight on the Richter scaic.”’ District 45 teachers also have concerns about the Year 2000 document. West Vanecuver Teachers’ Association president John Luc- cock said the Primary Program has been welcomed by his union's members, but adds that there are problems with the Intermediate Program. Luccock said that because the Primary Program is scheduled to be in place this fall, West Van- couver primary teachers have had a chance to become familiar with the program. But he added that because the Intermediate Program is just now being introduced {o teachers, many West Vancouver teachers are still very much in the dark about what will be in the program. Another of Player’s major con- cerns is the new dual-entry pro- gram, According to the new education fegislation, if a child’s fifth birth- By SURJ RATTAN News Reporter day is between Nov. | and April 30, his parents must wait uatil ei- ther January or September of the following year before entering their child into kindergarten. _ And if a child’s fifth birthday falls between May 1 and Oct. 31, the parents can enrol their child in . kindergarten in either the follow- ing Septemoer or January. But Player said the dual-entry program makes no sense. *sI’m not comsortable with the dual-entry program. I think it’s ill-conceived,’ said Player, who added that the program was not a recommendation of the Sullivan Royal Commission on Education. He said the program “‘just came out of the blue’”’ and was included in the new B.C. School Act. “*We've met with John Reynolds (West Vancouver-Howe Sound MLA) on this. We chink they (stu- dents) should be allowed in (kindergarten) in September, but we want funding for it,’’ said Player. “These kids are caught in the middle. They see their friends going off to school in September and they wonder what is wrong with them.” But despite Player's criticisms of the dual-entry program, he said the West Vancouver School Board is going to‘toee the education ministry line’on the issue because the policy is law. “*We're going to follow the act. The board has to make a decision. Do they break the law?’ said Player. “Our legal interpretation of that is that you don’t violate that (school act). If you do violate that, then who is responsible for the children?" Player said the entire issue cen- tres around funding. He said the cost of putting all kindergarten children in school in September is only one-third of one-half of the $5,400 per-student block-funding cap the education ministry has es- tablished. “‘{t’s not huge dollars,’’ he said, “but they're still dollars. When we're scraping fer dollars, then we're going to hold tight. There’s legal and financial concerns (about dual-entry),’"’ said Player. ‘‘If the ministry is not made to see that this is an issue that they should deal with, then the school board becomes the scapegoat.” But a group of West Vancouver parents is now lobbying the educa- tion ministry to scrap its dual-eniry program, and if Victoria refuses, they vow to continue to harass the WYVSB over the issue. Gary Humphries represents a group of parents with kindergarten-aged children whose fifth birthdays fall between November and December, which would force them to wait until January before enrolling their children in kindergarten. He says the system is unfair. **We think there is an inequity here,*’ Humphries said. “A child whose birthday is in April can still start (kiadergarten) in the previous January, but children whose bir- thdays fall in November and December can’t start in the previous September, they have to wait until January.”” **All we're asking for is the op- tion (of enrolling children in either September of January). We're just trying to deal with a manageadle issue at this poine,’” he said. 13 - Sunday, April 22, 1990 - North Shore News . NEWS photo Stua ane GRABE 12 automotive instructor Bryan Martin tells his students about car repair in the Sutherland garage. ALL REGULAR PRICED TOYS Great selection of brand name toys including Fisher Price, Little Tikes, Playmobiles, Brio, Lego, stuffed toys by Gund and much more. Hurry in for the best selection.