Students with children navigate childcare challenges

By DANIEL BUMANGLAG

Many parents struggle to find childcare during spring break, but parents who are students themselves face extra challenges.

Kimme Russell is a single mother of four. She will be finishing her Bachelor’s degree in education in 2026 at Vancouver Island University.

“It’s stressful for sure,” Russell said. “I’m going to have to miss one day of classes next week because I just couldn’t get it covered. And it’s kind of just the way that it is.”

Russell is an interior designer and photographer. She offers those services to friends in exchange for childcare. She said she is fortunate to have friends to care for her school-age children during spring break.

“It’s been a bit of a scramble,” Russell said.

A Team Effort

Tomilola Fadeyi Donkor is a counselling psychology masters student at Athabasca University. She is a mom of three and studies full-time. Most of her classes are online, and she is on maternity leave.

Donkor and other moms take turns hosting play dates for each other’s children over spring break, and she has help from her family. She said childcare affordability is needed for working mothers.

“I think we’d be celebrating if it was affordable for a lot of us that have to work,” Donkor said.

Taking Action

Sharon Gregson is the spokesperson at the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C.

Gregson doesn’t think that childcare is particularly accessible anytime during school breaks.

“I think that parents should send an email to their local member of the legislative assembly. They should send an email to their local federal member of Parliament to say that child care is a problem for them. Because we really need more political will to solve this problem,” said Gregson.

For many families, covering the cost for childcare can get really expensive. “I would like to see the government helping with the cost of it,” Russell said.