Virden has been selected as one of two sites for a two-year Early Childhood Education training program that will allow students to train while they work and apply their classroom information as they go.
In January, Assiniboine Community College is offering the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Workplace program in Virden.
The diploma program is intended for those who are currently employed by a childcare centre and have a minimum of two years of experience in the field.
Karen Hargreaves, Dean, School of Health & Human Services for Assiniboine Community College explained that the Virden location was chosen based upon the need within the area. The program will be taught in St. Paul’s United Church over the next two years, with the graduation date of Oct. 11, 2024.
“We surveyed all the centres around the Westman region. We look at a maximum of 100-kilometre radius.”
The needs within Virden and the centres in Elkhorn, Kenton, Reston, Miniota and Oak Lake were taken into consideration.
“We hear the feedback from them and we know that some of them are really anxious to train. For centres who don’t have their ECE II… some early learning centres have provisional licenses because they don’t have the ratio of trained staff. So, the province will give them a provisional licence until they can get the right ratio of trained staff.”
Every licensed daycare manager must have an ECE III diploma and each centre needs a certain ratio of staff with ECE II and Child Care Assistants diplomas. Untrained staff may be hired for daycares, but within one year they must take the 40-hour course to receive a CCA diploma.
“Sometimes, there’s certainly an advantage to hire people that aren’t trained. They get experience and can know if this is something they want to do,” said Hargreaves.
“The Workplace reiteration of the ECE program takes into account the students’ prior experience in the field, which allows the program to be delivered in a concentrated format,” Hargreaves added.
The training that begins this winter in Virden is the identical curriculum offered in the full two-year program at Assiniboine.
“Tuition is the same as any college course, however, students who have already taken the two-year childhood education program and have graduated and people going into it now, are eligible for tuition reimbursement from the government of $5,000 per year.”
There will be cohorts in both Dauphin and Virden, with 20 seats available in each cohort. Students who complete the program will receive a diploma in Early Childhood Education, which will allow them to apply for their ECE Level 2 classification.
“Trained and certified workers in this profession are in high demand. This new program assists in meeting these demands with individuals who have previously invested time in learning about this profession,” said Rennais Gayle, Chairperson of Early Childhood Education at Assiniboine.
The Early Childhood Education Workplace program is offered every two years, rotating throughout the province.
For more information or to apply, visit assiniboine.net/ece.
