Cert in Early Childhood Education Techniques AEC - Work-Study Pathway

Techniques d'education a l'enfance - Parcours travail-etudes is an Attestation d'etudes collegiales (AEC) work-study variant of the early childhood education credential, totalling 975 hours: 735 hours of coursework and a 240-hour practicum. It was designed to let students combine paid work in an early-childhood setting with their studies, easing the balance between work, studies, and family through a flexible schedule and without requiring relocation. The credential covers the same core early-childhood-education content as the standard AEC, combining classroom instruction in child development, health and safety, and pedagogical approaches with the practicum component, but restructures the schedule so instructional hours can be completed around a paid work placement rather than as a continuous full-time course of study. The pathway was introduced as a short-track national initiative (COUD) offered at several Quebec cegeps starting in fall 2021.