Association in call for well-trained childcare workers

By The Press Association29th April 2015News EnglandChildcare, Early Years, News England, Workforce

The next government should focus taxpayers’ money on ensuring young children are taught and cared for by high-quality, fully-trained staff, according to campaigners.

Many promises have been made in the run-up to the General Election around extending free childcare for pre-school children, but there needs to be a close look at whether there is evidence that this is good use of public funds, according to the British Association for Early Childhood Education, a group which supports early years workers.

In an open letter, the organisation suggested that there needs to be more discussion about the quality of early education, particularly for poor children.

“It behoves a rich society to ensure that settings are of high quality so that families can be confident that their children are well cared for and have many opportunities for play and learning,” it says.

“This is secured by ensuring that the early years workforce is fully and appropriately trained, and characterised by competent, confident, knowledgeable, career-orientated professionals who understand the importance of high-quality care in parallel with high-quality learning experiences.”

The Association’s chief executive, Beatrice Merrick, said: “Politicians of all parties clearly think offering more hours of free childcare will appeal to parents, but they need to look rigorously at the evidence of whether that is good use of scarce public funds.

“One clear lesson from every previous expansion of early years provision is that quality does not keep up with quality when the sector is pressured to grow too fast.”

Under the current system, three and four year-olds in England are entitled to 15 free hours of nursery or childcare each week.

The Conservatives have pledged to double this to 30 hours, while Labour has said it will increase the offer to 25 hours a week.

Professor Tony Bertram, president of the Association, said: “This election has seen promises to increase the number of hours of childcare for working families, and much less discussion about the quality of early education, especially for the most disadvantaged children.

“Every child has the right to the best possible start in life, including high quality care and education delivered by a well-qualified workforce. This may cost a little more, but all the evidence shows that it is an investment not a cost, with beneficial impacts on the educational achievement and well-being of our poorest children.”