Full-day learning is here to stay.

Following days of confusion and controversy after both the education minister and premier refused to commit to keeping all-day kindergarten beyond the next school year, Lisa Thompson said the province will have a full-day program for 4- and 5-year-olds.

“We have been clear from the beginning that we are listening to parents and consulting with our education partners to modernize and improve Ontario’s education system from kindergarten to Grade 12,” the education minister said in a statement Friday afternoon.

“There has been speculation around the issue of full-day kindergarten. Let me be clear, we are absolutely committed to full-day learning for 4- and 5-year-olds across the province.”

However, many insiders saw Thompson’s use of “full-day learning” as a sign that changes to the popular program are in the cards — possibly to the current staffing model of one teacher, one early childhood educator.

Thompson and Premier Doug Ford let the trial balloon hang out there all week long — neither confirming the all-day program beyond this fall, saying parents needed to “stay tuned.”

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Wednesday morning, Ford told reporters the government is “there’s going to be all-day kindergarten next year, and we’ll sit down and you’ll hear from us in the future,” also promising “a solution that’s better than the system that we have right now.”

The day before, Thompson had refused to make a long-term commitment to the program, which began almost a decade ago at a cost of $1.5 billion a year, saying consultations are under way with teacher and support staff unions as well as trustee associations on full-day, class sizes and hiring rules.

The comments caused an outcry among parents and especially educators, who say the program has shown both academic and social benefits for Ontario’s youngest students.

“You can look at full-day kindergarten as an expense, but it’s really not. It’s an investment,” said Harvey Bischof of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation.

A ministry consultation document asks about full-day kindergarten and its staffing model, which is a full-time teacher and full-time early childhood educator with an average class size of 26.

Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, tweeted that “the current FDK program, with a Teacher/ECE team is based on solid research & evidence, not to mention the long term economic benefits.”

In a 2012 report for the previous Liberal government, economist Don Drummond recommended axing the program to save money, but then-premier Dalton McGuinty — who made the full-day program a cornerstone of his 2007 re-election bid — rejected that suggestion.

University of Toronto Professor Charles Pascal — the architect of the full-day program — said Friday that the “key going forward is that if there is a genuine consultation, it will be informed by evidence and expertise.”

He also said “the current approach, with its staffing model and pedagogical approach wasn’t made up on the back of an envelope. The enormous social and economic impact of the program is a result of world-class application of best knowledge and practice.”

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Former Liberal education minister Mitzie Hunter, said she’s been hearing “all week from concerned parents wondering about their children’s future” and blamed Thompson and Ford for creating the controversy in the first place.

“It’s clear that Ford’s strategy is to float cuts, see what pushback he receives and then make a decision on whether to proceed,” said Hunter, the MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood.

“This is government by trial balloon and it is destabilizing for parents, student, educators and Ontarians. This bull-in-the-China-shop approach must stop immediately.”

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