Dawson Creek high school students can now receive free training as early childhood educators before they finish school.

There is a great demand in Dawson Creek for ECE certified people to work in daycares and for the school district, said Gloria Cleve, early learning project manager for School District 59.

Students would receive their training at the Early Learning Hub – a new facility that holds a daycare and parenting classes. They would earn their ECE certificate to work with young children before leaving secondary school.

The program is free because tuition is picked up by the school district as long as students are still in high school.

Applicants should be nurturers that love to work with young children, Cleve said.

“This crosses genders. We don’t have enough men in the field.”

Women dominate early childhood education, and she encourages men to apply.

Early childhood educators must be 18 to practice, but students who graduate when they’re 17 can still work with young children while they wait for their birthday.

Wages have drastically risen in the last few years in Dawson Creek because the school district – which pays more than most daycares – has implemented programs in the city, Cleve said. Employees make between $18 to $25 an hour.

“The rest of the childcare field has to meet this in order to attract early childhood educators, so the wages are going up.”

The program takes two years to complete, but the core courses needed before starting work only take a year. The rest of the training can be provided on the job.

People working in the school district’s StrongStart program must have ECE certificates.

These programs aim to have children developmentally ready for kindergarten to help them succeed throughout their school years.

Early childhood educators play games, read stories and serve snacks to young children and their caregivers.

The Early Learning Hub offers a StrongStart drop-in program for parents and their young children during weekday mornings. Licenced daycares must also have ECE caregivers on staff.