BC Council for Families

A surprising proportion of children starting school in BC are failing standard developmental tests. The Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), based out of UBC, released initial figures from its’ Early Development Instrument (EDI) in September. The EDI measures the vulnerability of children around the province.

The highlights:

• Overall in Vancouver, 37.8 per cent of children starting school in 2008 were considered vulnerable.
• Revelstoke had the lowest percentage of vulnerable children in the province at 6.7 per cent.
• The highest vulnerability rates were found in Kitimat and Prince Rupert at 57.6 per cent and 48.1 respectively.

 
Early childhood vulnerability is measured against a range of capabilities, such as fine and gross motor development, respect for others, ability to work within a school environment, self-control and self-confidence, impulsiveness, interest in books, ability to articulate, washroom independence and knowledge of the world.

These factors greatly affect childrens’ chances of staying healthy and thriving in adulthood. UBC Professor Clyde Hertzman, director of the early-learning partnership, said in an interview, “We are tolerating massive excess vulnerability… It’s possible to get vulnerability down into the 10 per-cent range, yet we’re tolerating close to 30 per-cent.”

“[But] we don’t yet have an articulated national commitment — backed up by resources — to start moving Canada from being the wealthy country that spends the least in the early years to come up with a wrap-around smart-family policy that invests up to 1.5 per cent of our GDP in early childhood.”