National ELCC Workforce Policy Table develops vision and roadmap to increase educator qualifications
Governments must put in place strategies to raise the formal education qualifications of those who work in licensed child care centres, says the National Early Learning and Child Care Workforce Policy Table, a group of early childhood education experts and practitioners established through Child Care Now’s Educators Matter project.
Their new publication, A vision and roadmap for increasing educator qualifications in licensed child care centres describes how a highly qualified workforce would raise the quality of programs, lower staff turnover rates, reduce stress and burnout of educators, and help foster conditions that support the wellbeing of children. It lays out six roles within child care centres and points to how working conditions for educators are improved when scopes of practice and competencies are clear. Educators’ working conditions, which are partly informed by the qualifications of all staff, are children’s learning environments.
This publication lays out a vision for six employment roles in centre-based programs: early childhood assistants, early childhood educators, inclusion support specialists, pedagogical leaders and program directors and describes the scope of practice and educational qualifications for each. In this vision by the end of a ten year transition period, all staff in child care centres would hold educational qualifications with early childhood educators holding a four-year degree in early childhood education
Raising qualifications cannot happen without supporting the ELCC workforce through concurrent system building and involving educators and other sector stakeholders deeply in the process. In order to achieve this vision, the paper provides a policy roadmap that includes recommendations to convene workforce councils at the federal and provincial/territorial level, implement fair wage grids aligned with Policy Table recommendations, and increase funding and capacity to the post-secondary sector.
The vision proposes that a child care system requiring a highly qualified ELCC workforce is a system that must pay educators a decent wage with benefits and pensions, and create good working conditions that enable educators and children to thrive.
Furthermore, a high-quality ELCC system that supports a highly qualified workforce requires that ELCC be treated as a public good, sufficiently funded by provincial, territorial, and federal governments with public funds, publicly managed, and accountable to the public.
About the Policy Table
The National Early Learning and Child Care Workforce Policy Table consists of members from diverse roles within the Canadian ELCC sector, including ECE professional associations, operators, post-secondary institutions, labour, sector councils, policy research, and representatives from Indigenous communities. A full list of members and more information about the project can be found on the Educators Matter project page.