The provincial government announced Monday it will spend more than $144 million to create full-day kindergarten for five-year-olds in every provincial school district.
The planned expansion will include the opening of 665 new classrooms to allow space for approximately 40,000 students to enter full-day kindergarten in September 2011.
In all, 133 will be modular classrooms, which are naturally-lit spaces that have high ceilings, with the exterior and interior walls being finished with B.C. wood.
Half of the classrooms will be opened this September and the second half will be opened the following year, Premier Gordon Campbell said in a news conference.
Money will also be put toward opening a new school in Langley, re-opening a primary school in Kelowna as well as renovating and converting existing B.C. classrooms.
Additions will also be made to 21 schools in the Lower Mainland, Capital Regional District, Campbell River and Central Okanagan.
New Democrat education critic Robin Austin told ctvbc.ca that he's pleased with the announcement, but notes the BC Liberals initially underestimated the cost of full-day kindergarten when they made a plan three years ago.
"I just hope this is the beginning of a process that corrects the funding shortfall, as school boards across the province are dealing with downloaded costs including provincially-negotiated wage and benefit packages, higher MSP premiums, and increased pension contributions," he said in a news release.
