LETTERS: Clouds of gloom persist the world over as wave after wave of new Covid-19 variants emerge to thwart our desire for normalcy. With more businesses shutting down and many losing jobs, an already bleak future for many has turned into their worst nightmare.
It is no different for the early childhood education (ECE) industry. Already beset with low pay, long hours, and unreasonable working conditions, it now faces a new set of challenges for teachers. The disruption brought about by the pandemic has forced them to make a tough choice — stay for the passion or leave for survival. Many, it appears, have chosen the latter.
A recent opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times, titled America's approach to early childhood education is completely unsustainable, confirmed this sad state of affairs. It cited figures showing staff turnover in early learning centres had risen to 40 per cent during the pandemic.
This predicament facing ECE is best explained by Deanna Cohen, the owner of a childcare facility in the United States.
"You really have to love children. If you are deciding between a barista and doing this, be a barista," she told the Bloomberg Businessweek late last year.
That's how poorly maintained, perhaps even broken, the childcare system is in many countries.
Malaysia, too, faces a similar dilemma, chiefly because of how private learning centres operate.
A recent local study, titled Issues in Operating Childcare Centres in Malaysia, concluded, "most teachers aren't paid salaries deemed fitting with their qualification. And neither are they provided opportunities for professional growth".
The report further stated teachers at such centres cited the lack of incentives, appreciation, and recognition as among factors for leaving such jobs. It's easy to tell something is horribly wrong when we compensate high school graduates on a par with degree holders. We must recognise that no organisation, industry, or society can function without retaining quality people.
Not that these revelations are surprising. ECE has lurked in the shadows for decades; for many governments, forever confined to the bottom rung of their priority ladders.
While a glut of studies have proven its long-term benefits for a country's economic success, those in power have rarely talked up this industry as essential to national progress. To return ECE to its rightful place in society, we must empower them urgently.
Policymakers should take a leaf from US President Joe Biden's playbook. His administration recently put forth a multi-trillion-dollar proposal called Build Back Better to boost the battered ECE industry. If Biden can fully realise his vision, this initiative will restore the dignity of American preschool teachers and the profession.
A New York Times article from last year titled, "The Power of Pre-K", said research suggests academic achievements aside, students who attend early childhood programmes display better social and emotional skills as a group. Such skills foster perseverance and grit in individuals, which are crucial to navigate out of troubled times.
A report released by the European Expert Network on the Economics of Education in early 2018 went a step further. It said ECE programmes have a statistical association with "students gaining favourable labour market outcomes," avoiding prolonged poverty as a result, and enjoying better health. Together, the report added that these outcomes reduce the burden on a state's criminal justice system.
A good ECE puts children first, with improved staff training and compensation, and infrastructure and facilities that enhance the learning experience.
We cannot deny preschool teachers a living wage and annually pay them less than the average fast-food worker.
Right now, ECE "is an industry that literally can't generate enough money to survive", said child-care financial consultant Louise Stoney to Bloomberg Businessweek.
I believe that's only half the problem. This is an industry that is fast losing its will to survive if something is not done soon to address it.
JERRICA FATIMA NOOR
Early childhood educator, Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times