VANCOUVER – Recent partnership between Vancouver Community College (VCC) and School District No. 74 (SD74) will provide much needed qualified child care educators in Gold Trail, as well as career opportunities for high school graduates. The district will deliver VCC’s Early Child Care Education (ECCE) certificate program to senior high school students and adults in SD74 beginning September 2016.
The specially designed 9-month, full-time ECCE certificate from VCC, along with the training required to obtain the B.C. government’s Early Childhood Educator Certificate to Practice, will qualify graduates to work as educators in licensed child care settings with children three to five years of age.
The affiliation agreement between VCC and SD74 was initiated by Gold Trail Transition Advisor, Greg Howard who wanted to qualify the local population to work in its two licensed child care settings, as well as in the recently-funded family support program, Make Children First.
“There is a high demand for professional staff to work in these settings,” explains Howard. “I also wanted to help the local youth attain vocational training and find jobs.”
“By providing outreach training, this program helps increase the number of qualified, professional staff and therefore takes an important role in supporting families throughout B.C.,” says Katarina Jovanovic, VCC ECCE Program Coordinator. “We also begin to act as an advocate for quality child care which I strongly support.”
For VCC, the Gold Trail ECCE partnership is part of its strategic direction to work closer with school districts to provide high schools in B.C. to train students for early workforce entry. It’s also an excellent model for future outreach programming which brings accessible education to populations in remote and rural areas of B.C and aid in community development.
The boundaries of Gold Trail include five municipalities, 19 indigenous communities, and secondary schools in Ashcroft, Lillooet, Clinton, Lytton, and Shalalth. While all these communities will benefit from the dual credit offering from VCC offered in a SD74 local facility, five lucky high school students from these schools will have their ECCE certificate program funded by the district.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Danielle Libonati
Vancouver Community College
604.871.7000 x7531
Email
