The following letter to the editor was published in the Nova Scotia Advocate on April 12, 2021.
As an owner/operator of a daycare centre and after school program, I am adding my voice to the call for equal compensation for all early childhood educators in Nova Scotia!
It has been a very difficult few years trying to retain staff since the pre-primary program started in schools. I have lost numerous valuable employees over the last three years. They left to work in the pre-primary program because of better wages, paid sick days, summers off and other benefits.
I am hoping that the provincial government will provide adequate funding that will stabilize the child care sector. Early childhood educators in centres do not get the same compensation as those working in public schools, even though they do the same work and have the same qualifications.
Daycare centres are needed for all the families of children who are too young to attend the pre-primary program, but I feel that daycare centres will not survive without trained individuals to provide quality child care. Centres need a certain percentage of trained staff and all centres are finding it difficult to find and retain qualified individuals.
I can’t afford to lose any more of my hard-working employees to the public school system. Please help us now. We are depending on you!
Effie Vincent
Owner/Operator, Ponderosa Play and Learn Children’s Centre
Antigonish, NS