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There’s never been a better time to be an early childhood educator in Nova Scotia.
That’s what Education Minister Zach Churchill told CJLS News when we asked him about the expansion opportunities he announced this week.
The province has invested $1.45 million in the Nova Scotia Community College to create 135 new seats in the early childhood education program over the next three years.
It will include 135 permanent and temporary seats among four campuses including NSCC Burridge in Yarmouth.
This coming school year will see 80 new spaces created, 30 at Burridge.
He says there are job opportunities developing across the province with wages at or above the national average.
“We are increasing the demand of early childhood educators in the province by about 500, long-term. This is about making sure we are prepared long-term to meet the needs of our kids and families. We’re moving from having a system that is only covering 1 in 4 families in the province to one that’s going to give 100 per cent access. There’s never been a better time to be an early childhood educator. There are job opportunities across the province that are developing. Wages are now competitive at or above the national average. We brought in tuition relief for those who want to pursue training in early childhood education at our private career colleges and we have bursaries in place for those in under-represented groups.”
The government is also amending the Day Care Regulations so that children who are registered in pre-primary will be able to attend before and after-school programs that are currently only available to school-age children.
Churchill says there’s been an expansion in the regulated child care sector of 300 new spaces in the past year.
