Experts are discussing how the state can improve access to early childhood education during the first annual Untapped Potential of Mississippi event in Jackson. Kuna Tavalin is with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and has worked alongside the Mississippi Economic Council to better understand how access to early childhood education can help develop the state’s workforce.
Tavalin says “We view early childhood as a two-generation workforce issue, right? For children to get that really strong foundation, for adults to fully participate in the workforce.”
Scott Waller, President and CEO of MEC, says many parents across the state don’t have access to affordable, quality childcare.
“A lot of people because of childcare issues are not continuing their education or they don’t have the ability to do workforce training. Because they don’t have someone who can take care of their child while they’re in that training program,” says Waller. “And that training program is vital for them to get the skills necessary to move into a higher paying job, to move in the opportunity to do better for themselves and their families.”
A study by Elucidata found that nearly every area of Mississippi has limited access to childcare facilities, but the absence is most prominent in the southwestern part of the state. Jill Dent, is Director of the Office of Early Childhood at the Mississippi Department of Education. She says the state only began to address the lack of childcare within the last decade, and expects to see the continued growth of early learning collaboratives.
“And so we’ve come so far and so fast but we still have a very long way to go,” says Dent. “We want to make sure that as many 4-year-olds that we can get are in those high-quality classrooms and make sure that they have the foundation to enter kindergarten.”
Advocates for children in Mississippi are also hopeful that expanding early childhood care can prepare them for the remainder of their education.
