A province wide survey is taking place right now looking at daycares across Ontario and what supports they need.
Like many other sectors, staffing issues plague the profession and this survey, in part, is looking at ways to get more people in daycare settings and then keep them there.
That was Dr. Emis Akbari, speaking to us about the Knowing Our Numbers survey that is currently being circulated.
This is open to Early Childhood Educators and anyone who has a direct working relationship with these centres.
University of Toronto’s Atkinson Centre is spearheading this survey, locally working with Haldimand and Norfolk Children’s Services to get information from the dual municipalities.
Dr. Akbari said there are many reasons why people are leaving the profession, with educators reporting things like being burnt out or under appreciated as reasons for quiting.
She says there is a lot of public misunderstanding when it comes to the role of an ECE, and just how vital they are to a child’s education.
While childcare settings are vital, it is hard to keep people in the role.
Initial data from across the province has shown that a lot of educators left the sector during the pandemic, and never came back.
Right now, Canada as a whole is trying to change into the $10 a day model, looking at make childcare affordable for parents.
The issue is, while it tries to make life a bit more affordable for parents, there is nothing in there to make life more affordable for those working in the rooms.
The lack of staff is seeing a direct impact right now.
Prior to this survey, in person visits were done to a select few daycare centres.
This has the biggest impact at parents of infants.
In a daycare, there is always a student to teacher ratio, with infants needing the most one of one care.
This means when it is time to close a room to send staff elsewhere, these rooms seem to be the first to be shut down.
The low staff numbers, and ever changing teachers, is something that is hard to those working at the centres but also difficult for young kids who want some form of routine.
Much like the infant rooms getting the brunt of the blow when it comes to rearranging staff members to meet quota, students with special needs are also highly affected.
They are also seeing administrative staff members, who should be overseeing operations at a daycare, being pulled to the floor to fill in.
Dr. Akbari says once the study is complete, they will release the findings online in hopes that more will be done across Ontario, and Canada as a whole, to support staff in these centres and show them how valued they truly are.
More information on the survey can be found here.
The full interview can be listened to below:
