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An upcoming update to the federal-provincial $10-a-day child-care program is missing important improvements for early childhood educators, according to an advocate in the sector.
For Patrice Gordon, one of the most glaring gaps in the document that regulates the program is a missing wage increase.
"I have no words, really, because that's the first thing I looked for when I saw the document," said Gordon, a steering committee member of advocacy group Child Care Now N.L. and an early childhood educator herself.
"So, it feels like an insult and it feels like we don't matter."
The most recent update to the Child Care Centre Operating Grant Program Policy and Standards Manual is set to come into effect on April 1, but does not include changes to the early childhood education wage grid introduced in 2023.
“We have inflation going up, the cost of living is going up," said Gordon.
"So, ECEs are restless, and rightly so, because we can't afford to do anything."
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"Early childhood educators are totally burnt out because in a lot of cases, there is no relief stuff," said Gordon.
"People can't get a break to go to the bathroom. And apart from being inhumane, it's not fair…. And that's a serious problem in a lot of centres across the province."
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Meanwhile, a pension plan for early childhood educators is something the PC government is working on, said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Paul Dinn.
Yet, he couldn’t provide a concrete timeline.
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