Better system needed for Early Childhood Educators

There is a severe shortage of Early Childhood Educators in the province and day care operators say it has reached a crisis level and immediate improvements are needed to ensure the recruitment and retention of these workers, says Opposition Leader Yvonne Jones. The issue was raised earlier today in the House of Assembly.

The Early Learning Child Care Supplement was set up by government in 2001 to provide monetary support to Early Childhood Educators as an incentive for upgrading their training and retention in the field. However, numerous barriers are preventing workers from receiving this extra funding.

“If improvements are to be made to the Early Childhood Education system, government must take some concrete action to address the concerns being raised by workers and daycare operators,” said Ms. Jones. “The supplement is certainly a good idea, but it must be strengthened, more accessible and enhanced to provide the greatest benefit possible. Unless this issue is addressed, there will be fewer child care spaces available in a system already facing a significant shortage. 

Jones says some of the barriers include discrepancies in teaching areas and certification, administrative processes, loss of funding while on leave, obtaining professional development hours, and difficulty in accessing courses to upgrade skills. In addition, concerns are being raised about the ability of Early Childhood Educators to transfer credits from private colleges to the public college system, even though both programs are certified by the Department of Education.

“While private colleges and the College of the North Atlantic (CNA) offer Early Childhood Education training, CNA’s policy since September 2009 is not to accept credit transfers from the private college system. If the Department of Education accredits all of the programs at the various college facilities, why would Early Childhood Educators not be allowed to transfer credits from one college to the other? This has become very frustrating for many educators and it is certainly a policy that should be re-evaluated by government.

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