Early childhood educators make impact
The Daily News (Kamloops)
March 21, 2008
Opinion By: L. Gilliland

…. To achieve the provision of developmentally and age- appropriate quality child care programs to support all children from all income levels, we also need a steady supply of qualified and dedicated early childhood educators.

Child care spaces sit empty while waiting lists continue to grow. The spaces are empty due to the dwindling workforce.

The workforce is dwindling due to quality educators choosing to leave the field for higher-paying jobs, better benefits and conditions with a much lower level of responsibility. New educators are hard to recruit when they research the current options. These issues have left child care in crisis across B.C. and will impact any new spaces created.

Early childhood educators provide a loving, safe and enriched environment for the children and families they come in contact with, but they do much more than that. Sometimes, they provide a family with a tool to screen where and how their child's development is progressing. Often the educator is the first to notice the need for early intervention or where to go for more information…..

Early childhood educators offer suggestions, advocate, listen and support families in whatever way they can; all contributing factors to, as Jennifer states, "reducing long-term needs for health, justice and social services."….

To support a system that provides both early learning and care so that families can work, the issues around working conditions and wages for the staff must be addressed….