McGill University to set up new centre for early childhood development

“Students will benefit from this incredibly important contribution to our faculty by having additional resources to conduct research in and study specialized topics while helping to meet the needs of today’s youth,” said Professor Vivek Venkatesh, Dean of the Faculty of Education.

Thanks to a generous $3.75 million donation, McGill University will establish a new centre for early childhood development to provide more support and resources for children with learning or developmental difficulties.

The university said that there are currently hundreds of families in the province waiting to be assessed for learning or developmental difficulties.

The donation was made by alumni Daniel L. and Monica Gold to establish the Daniel and Monica Gold Centre for Early Childhood Development.

In a press release, McGill said the centre will address this urgent need by advancing and increasing clinical support, research, and training in an effort to reach more children earlier in their lives.

“Funding from this gift will enable McGill to build on its strengths in early-childhood development and educational psychology, assess more children, train more students in the field, and, ultimately, help address wide-ranging challenges in early learning development, including Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder, developmental delays, and other neurodivergences," the university said.

The money will not only fund the centre but also the creation of a graduate-level certificate for early-education intervention practitioners. The centre is aiming to welcome its first cohort of students by the next fall.