Early childhood education students in the north offered free, accelerated, schooling
Four northern Ontario districts are in the midst of a new partnership with Northern College that gave dozens of people access to an accelerated early childhood education program for free.
Some district social services administration boards in the region have paid the tuition, books and fees for around 40 students.
Timiskaming’s DSSAB recently announced that it’s funding six students, specifically those who are currently working in child care but are not yet certified early childhood educators (ECEs).
“It’s a compressed program,” said the organization’s manager of children’s services, Lyne Labelle.
“They will receive their two-year diploma in 16 months and the child care centres will benefit from having qualified staff.”
That adds up to around $10,000 of education costs per student being covered by the Timiskaming DSSAB.
Labelle said it is also topping up the students’ wages as they balance work and school. That means they’re being paid for class time, up to 40 hours per week.
The Cochrane district’s DSSAB is also participating. Children’s services manager Shannon Costello said it is helping working students achieve their ECE certifications.
“Educators that are currently working in the field, that are not qualified, work and get their qualifications at the same time,” Costello said.
This is all possible due to federal and provincial funding announced last year, under the Child and Early Years Workforce Funding program.
It’s aimed at recruiting and retaining ECEs. The problem is many left the profession during the COVID-19 pandemic and not enough ECE students are enrolling in post-secondary programs.
Cochrane DSSAB received around $850,000, which it is using partly to fund students’ education, as well as to develop programs for retaining existing staff.
The field has been seeing soaring demand for child care, with Ontario now cutting costs in half — after joining the national $10-a-day child care initiative — and with further demand expected once costs reach that goal.
Labelle said a recent local survey showed that parents are looking to return to the workforce as costs decline, which will only mean further demand for child care.
Costello said Timmins alone has a waitlist of more than 300 children for daycare and around 100 for after-school care.
ALREADY UNDERSTAFFED
With the province aiming to create 86,000 new child-care spaces, she said there’s pressure to make sure they’re staffed, adding that current spaces are already understaffed.
“We currently need 113 registered ECEs to open our spaces at full capacity, without any expansion,” Costello said.
The Nipissing and Kenora districts are also participating in the accelerated ECE certification partnership, in an effort to up-skill existing staff.
Post-secondary schools across the region also offer free pre-ECE online programs to get people started in the field.
The province also offers an Ontario ECE Grants program to help aspiring educators with tuition.
Labelle said though the funding is limited — the last round of workforce capacity funds is being issued in March — Timiskaming DSSAB is already considering supporting another cohort of students.
“As long as the funding is available, I think we’re going to follow this path,” Labelle said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.