Tamworth's aspiring early childhood educators upskill to address industry shortages, but say more needs to be done

Erin Skewes has worked at Denison Street Early Learning Centre in West Tamworth for the past five years, and is one of a record number of recipients of $20,000 through the Early Childhood Education Scholarships Program in 2022.

The NSW government initiative aims to address challenges faced by the sector, and entice people to dive right into the field by supporting their study of a bachelor-level early childhood teaching qualification.

The 25-year-old said while her passion for the job is driving her to pursue it further, the workload and gaps in training are the reason childhood educators are in such short supply.

"I think it [scholarships] will help, but I don't think it will fix it by itself," Ms Skewes said.

"There was one stage last year where there was close to 10 centres advertising for early childhood teachers and there was just none around, specifically around Tamworth.

"It won't fix the issues around low numbers of Cert III and diploma educators."

She said long hours are driving people to leave the industry and take higher paying jobs for less work.

"You definitely don't do it for the money, you do it for the love of the job," she said.

"It is a lot of work outside of hours that we have to put in. Also away from the centre - at my work we're trying to focus on not taking work home."

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The scholarship will enable Ms Skewes to transfer from her primary school teaching course and focus solely on her passion for early childhood education, which began during a gap year traineeship in 2016.

"I actually decided to stay in the sector just because of my love for it and how great it is to create those relationships with the kids and the families," she said.

"It's very hard to leave once you create those relationships and bonds."

Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said the program aims to increase the number of early childhood teachers working in the sector.

"This year there are a record 114 scholars, including 25 Aboriginal scholars," she said.

"We know the past two years have been challenging for the early childhood education sector, so it's important we are providing support to build a highly qualified and sustainable workforce."

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