Daycares in Portage la Prairie have been looking for Early Childhood Educators (ECE) for many years, and the provincial government has found a way to subsidize the cost of schooling. 

Guy Moffatt, the Regional Campus Manager for Red River Polytech Portage la Prairie campus, explains what the government provides. 

"They will be providing an ECE tuition reimbursement," he continues. "That is a program that the Manitoba government is running to entice people into ECE as a profession. The application is made through the government website if anyone's interested. They can search for early childhood education in Manitoba, and it should come up in their search. "

Moffatt says students can get up to $5000 per school year to help cover tuition-related costs related to early childhood education programs.

PortageOnline also caught up with a few daycare's to see their perspective on the ECE Course and it's importance. 

Brittany Thiessen, Director of Westpark Children's Centre, says they desperately need early childhood educators. 

"We're seeing a lot of new centres opening and a lot of current centres needing help to hire educated staff. I'm hopeful that we will continue to see an increase in early childhood educators come to our community."

Director of Westend Daycare Janice Delf explains exactly what ECEs are. 

"An ECEs primary responsibility is the care and education of all children in a program. They are responsible for presenting, directing and assisting in assessing the emotional, physical, social and cognitive development of children in childcare. "

She continues to state her opinion on why there is a need for ECEs in the community. 

"The government needs to address the salaries being paid to ECEs. Also, the promotion of being an early childhood educator in the field and recognizing the value of early childhood educators."

Lori Carpenter, Director of Portage Ukrainian Nursery School, says that working with kids is one of the best jobs out there, and she encourages you to look into becoming an ECE. 

"It's training that you'll always use. It's good practical information; once people see how joyful it is to be with little kids, they'll be sold," she continues. "But I encourage people to look into the training aspect of it and see if it might be a food fit for them. We are grateful to have Red River in our community right now doing night courses and childcare, and I'm assuming that will continue. They're looking at the workplace program for next year, so if anyone is currently working in a childcare centre and wants to upgrade their classification level, they can look into the workplace program with Red River in Portage."

To learn about the ECE program, click here. 
To learn more about tuition reimbursement, click here.