COLUMN: It’s time to value Mayo’s early years professionals

Educators in Early Years and School Age Care play an instrumental role in children’s lives. Parents recognise this, and it’s time for our government to formally do so too. With a growing demand for Early Years and School Age Care services in Mayo, settings grapple with staff recruitment and retention every day. This is a major barrier to increasing capacity and guaranteeing more places for Mayo’s children.

Affordable Early Years and School Age Care has recently propelled to the top of the political agenda, with €200 a month provision promised in the Programme for Government. In a recent statement, the Taoiseach said that while he is committed to gradually reducing fees, other steps must be taken before that can be achieved.

While a reduction in fees for families certainly is welcome, we must first address pay and conditions for the workforce to ensure there are enough staff to provide high-quality services for babies, toddlers and young children in Mayo.

As a first step, Early Childhood Ireland proposes bringing the pay of Early Years and School Age Care graduates in line with primary school teachers.

According to the latest data from Pobal, the organisation administering Early Years funding, the average staff turnover in Mayo stands at 17.5 percent. Additionally, over 55 percent of services had vacancies in the past 12 months. This is not a trend we can ignore.

Our 114 member settings in Mayo already know why they are struggling to attract and retain dedicated educators who contribute so significantly to children’s development.

Despite having the same level of training and education as primary school teachers, Early Years graduates face lower wages and fewer benefits. Importantly, annual increments, pensions, and maternity leave top-ups remain out of reach for these professionals.

Public pay and conditions

There have been recent proposals to increase minimum pay rates for staff by 10 percent. This will increase base pay, as per the Employment Regulation Order (ERO), from €13.65 to €15 an hour.

Although any increase is welcome, pay levels for the Early Years and School Age workforce remain at the mercy of two annual processes, the Joint Labour Committee’s deliberations and the annual budget.

The government is moving in the right direction, but unless a new urgency is brought to the pay issues, Early Years and School Age Care settings in Mayo will continue to lose their most qualified staff at unsustainable levels.

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Guaranteeing pay parity for Early Years and School Age Care graduates with primary school teachers would not only offer the workforce deserved recognition and security but would also go a long way in alleviating challenges parents and guardians face when trying to find a place for their child. With high levels of staff turnover, many services have to close rooms or delay expansions, simply because they cannot recruit or retain enough qualified staff.

The latest official data from Pobal reveals a troubling capacity shortage in services in Mayo, with 550 children under the age of three currently on waiting lists for a place. This figure highlights the gap between the demand for Early Years and School Age Care and the number of places available for children.

The government must act to ensure all children have access to high-quality Early Years education, and addressing the staffing crisis is the first critical step.

Crucial role

Early Years and School Age Care is a public good. It is time for us as a society to recognise this and the crucial role the workforce plays in the first years of a child’s life. With a rapidly growing demand for provisions in Mayo, it is vital that the government invests in Early Years and School Age Care educators to ensure that services are not only of the highest quality but are also sustainable in the long term.