Letter: Angel Sampson, Tsartlip First Nation; Times Colonist

Re: “Teachers working for the students,” Feb. 28.

I have been an early-childhood educator for 25 years, and I cannot agree enough that the government needs to invest more time in teachers and a lot more with the children.

Daycare programs have been looked at as a glorified babysitting service for too long; those of us in the field know that we are so much more than that.

If politicians actually believed “the children are our future,” as they so often say, children and their needs would always be at the top of the list of every agenda that came before government.

The early years are crucial to a child’s development – socially, emotionally, physically and culturally. We provide children with quality care, love and attention, especially to those who may have challenges or need extra support in the classroom.

Daycare services should be made available to every child who needs the services, regardless of income or status, and it should be free. Early-childhood educators must be paid accordingly for the quality care provided. We are caring for those who will make decisions about our future, your future.

Childhood should be a happy time, a time for a child to be loved, accepted and respected. Things would be so different for so many people today if they were provided these basic needs as a child. I know – I went to an Indian day school.