“Intense” child poverty needs gov’t commitment: VSB chair
Posted December 17, 2013 4:41 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Industry Minister James Moore may have apologized Monday for comments he made to News1130 Friday over government responsibility when it comes to child poverty and kids going to school hungry, but many groups say actions speak louder than words. Along with poverty watchdogs, educators are now calling on the federal government to step up and help finally solve the problem.
Vancouver School Board Chair Patti Bacchus says teachers see kids coming to school with untreated medical conditions and troubles with attention span because they’re not getting enough food, and kids who come to school exhausted because their living situation is unstable.
“I think we have a moral obligation to take responsibility at every level of government to look at what we can do and how we can partner with other levels to combat a complicated problem, but a problem that deserves attention,” says Bacchus.
Bacchus calls the poverty level in Vancouver “intense,” and adds solving it starts with instituting affordable quality childcare and upping wages.
But she says it goes further than that. “We also need to look at housing for families. It’s incredibly expensive in this city to find accommodations, especially for someone working a minimum wage job.”
Bacchus says schools are working very hard to help by funding lunch and breakfast programs, but action to end child poverty needs to extend beyond the classroom.
