Workforce

USyd Masters of Early Childhood students make bleak remarks about the future of the sector

Freya Lucas

Aug 25, 2022

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Masters of Early Childhood student Laura (a pseudonym) graduated last year, but already feels disillusioned about the future of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, speaking out as part of a student response piece about industrial action, saying “ (it) feels like speaking up can’t really change anything.”

Laura’s comments appear alongside those from students of nursing and teaching, as part of a perspective piece about “entering an industry in crisis.”

She told Honi Soit that she has been “disillusioned by childcare centres consistently breaking laws around staffing and child safety,” also concerned that if services were to be shut down in relation to the issues she has seen “children will have nowhere to go.”

Those quoted in the piece, some of whom will shortly graduate from The University of Sydney (USyd), are entering sectors which are filled with veteran members who have felt systematically silenced, underpaid, and exhausted after a brutal pandemic.

Entering the workforce against this backdrop, and in a time of crisis, gives them a unique perspective. Many of those who are quoted in the piece paint a picture of “distinct uncertainty about the future, fear of burnout, and anger at exploitative systems.”

Laura said her real world professional experience since graduating has left her exhausted physically and emotionally, with fellow graduate Abbie (a pseudonym) saying she feels immense pressure from parents, and feels irritated that as a University graduate she is viewed simply as “a nappy changer.”

“It irritates me because they’re not seeing us as educators. We teach children about the world,” she said.

“I feel disappointed that we have to do rallies just to get a dollar or two above our wage,”she continued. “It really reveals how respected we are in society.”

To read the Honi Soit coverage of this piece please see here.

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