Submission #2296

When I first started working with children, I was still feeling like a child myself, and was unsure of what direction my life was going in. My mother had been an ECE for as long as I could remember, a career choice I was sure I would not pursue. Years later, I reluctantly accepted a part time, on call position as a causal/sub for a childcare centre. My first shift was in an infant room, and from the second I had a child come up to me with a gleaming smile on their face, and a welcoming hug, I was hooked. From then on, I knew I was where I was meant to be. I didn’t know it then, but this career would be the anchor in my life that I so desperately needed.

Anyone who has been in this field of work for as long as many of our predecessors have been (upwards of 20+ years), knows that there have been waves of changes that have shaped the Early Years sector into what it is today. From everything between being underpaid essential workers, social scrutiny, and facing social bias’s of the impactful work they were doing, astronomical tuition fees that kept parents at home instead of being able to send their child to daycare to learn and grow, no supports in place for educators, or children, to the founding of the ECDA, an essential, and cohesive partner in the important work we do, to kindergarten moving into the school systems, wage increases, regulations and childcare acts put in place, a pension, $10/day daycare fees, and since 2022, the addition of a Pedagogical Leader role.

All of the progress that has been made in the Early Years, have been fundamental in PEI being considered the “golden standard” across Canada for ECE’s, and childcare quality as a whole. We cannot accept a change like this. A change like this, is the beginning of going backwards. A change like this, can catapult us back to the days that ECE’s, and ECDA have fought so hard and tirelessly for to change for the better.

We will not accept this brash, and overall harmful decision.

“The right to education is a fundamental human right that ensures children have access to quality education.”
https://www.unicef.ca/sites/default/files/imce_uploads/UTILITYNAV/TEACHERS/DOCS/GC/Childrens_Rights_in_Education.pdf

I fear without full time, Pedagogical Leaders in our centres, this human right is not honoured, and it is the children are the ones who suffer the most from this lack of regard to the importance of this role.

Pedagogical Leaders do not make the plants grow directly, instead they focus on the soil, sunlight, and water (classroom support, materials, and resources for educators), creating the perfect environment and culture for educators and children to flourish.

It should be noted that after coming together, very last minute, with colleagues around the Island, and seeing/hearing the overwhelming amount of care and advocacy that was represented, I was reassured, yet again, that I am exactly where I want, and need to be, in a field of fierce ECE’s.