Dear Editor: Re: If you can’t afford child care, then stay home (Inbox, Burnaby NOW, June 14). In our province, we don’t ask a 10-year-old how much money their parents make before we make a publicly funded space available in Grade 5. That child has a right to a space.
Children under five years old have the very same right. The only way to build a system is to fund a universal, high-quality early care and learning system that pays a living wage to the early childhood educators who work there. With public funds comes public accountability, so quality measures need to be in place for sure.
This does not mean a universal curriculum, but it does mean a high level of safety and quality, making space for a wide range of pedagogical approaches so parents can actually have a choice.
Charlene Gray, email
