A shortage of qualified employees has forced Ladysmith’s only licensed group daycare to close its doors.

As of Friday, August 31, Ladysmith Children’s Centre will not operate. After a month of searching for an early child educator proved fruitless… “I feel I am being forced into retirement,” Bafaro says. “It wasn’t my first choice.”

She says the employee shortage is based on money. The job entails a lot of responsibility for too little cash…. She believes the majority of students pursuing early child educator diplomas continue their education to secure higher paying jobs, such as educational assistants.

“We are told that we do something really important yet nobody is really willing to pay for it,” Bafaro says….

The daycare serves 35 Ladysmith families. …. Before the centre was shorthanded, Bafaro advertised for two years for additional workers. Not one candidate replied to her ads…

There are five licensed family child care practices in Ladysmith, Joan Astren, Ladysmith supported child development coordinator, says. … “There is another licensed group child care (centre) between Ladysmith and Nanaimo, in Cassidy,” Astren says.

In Ladysmith there is no licensed child care facility for children under three years of age, she adds. Astren would like to see a collaborative effort between child support organizations, the town and business to develop a birth-to-three and group daycare.

Astren also points to the lack of livable wages as a reason the centres are dying out.

Daycare centres are connected to the Ministry of Children and Family Development, which decided to decrease the amount of funding licensed early childhood educators can draw from, Astren says.

“Our field is greatly impacted by the funding that comes down from the provincial government,” Astren says.

In February, Bafaro voiced her anger over Child Care Operating Funds reductions and joined child care workers from across B.C. at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria. The funds had provided grants for every enrolled child. At the time, Bafaro estimated the 27 per cent rollback cost the centre approximately $600 a month.

Malaspina University College’s chair of Early Childhood Education, Beverly Revin, says a large number of students signed onto the program in 2004 when the Liberal government talked about a national child care plan. Since the promises faded, student enrollment has fluctuated. Last year’s first class was small, but the second class was large. This year’s first year class is full.