Celebrating Early Childhood Educators In Saskatchewan

Released on May 1, 2023

The Government of Saskatchewan is pleased to recognize the month of May as Early Childhood Education month, and has proclaimed May 10, 2023, as Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Appreciation Day. 

"We recognize the role early childhood education plays in helping our children get the best possible start in life," Education Minister Dustin Duncan said. "To the almost 2,800 early childhood educators in Saskatchewan, we say thank you for providing a safe and positive learning environment where our youngest learners can play, learn and grow."

The Government of Saskatchewan remains committed to early learning education with $382.4 million allocated to early learning and child care in the 2023-24 budget. There are almost 20,000 regulated child care spaces in operation in 164 communities across Saskatchewan, and growing the number of ECEs remains a priority for government as regulated child care spaces continues to expand in the province.

To incentivize more people to choose careers in the sector, the province is providing tuition-free ECE training, bursaries and supporting the Saskatchewan Early Childhood Association (SECA) in the development of an ECE recruitment strategy with a focus on ECEs building a career in regulated child care centres.

"Early Childhood Educators are the core of Early Learning and Child Care and SECA looks forward to creating a strategy to recruit individuals to join this impactful career choice," SECA Executive Director Georgia Lavallee said. "ECEs help children grow and learn as they interact with the world around them during the most crucial stage in a child's life. SECA is extremely grateful to the Early Childhood Educators in Saskatchewan for the incredible work they do every day and look forward to welcoming new individuals into the sector."

To find out more about early childhood education careers, regulated child care programs and resources for early learning in your community visit www.saskatchewan.ca/residents/education-and-learning/prek-12-education-early-learning-and-schools/early-years-learning.

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