New Childcare Minister for England Announced. We welcome the appointment of Sam Gyimah as the new childcare minister, and hope that the delay in announcing the allocation of this brief is a sign of the more measured and thoughtful decision-making to come. Beatrice Merrick, Chief Executive of Early Education, said: We hope that Nicky Morgan and Sam Gyimah will look again at current early years policy to make sure it will give our youngest children the best start in life. While we dont expect major policy changes in the lead up to the general election, there are opportunities to set a positive direction of travel. We would particularly welcome a commitment to look again at workforce issues including the status of Early Years Teachers in relation to QTS. The evidence about the importance of teachers in high quality early years provision does not mean there need to be more children in schools, but rather there need to be more teachers working in and with early years settings. The coalition needs to set out a strategy for raising the level of qualifications in the workforce as a whole, with level 3 qualifications as a minimum for inclusion in the ratios. Recruitment to level 3 qualifications needs to be kept under review to ensure good candidates are not excluded by a narrow approach to demonstrating competence in English and Maths. In the longer term, all parties need a long term plan for the early years, including a funding system which works better for parents and fully covers the costs of funded places. The lesson from the two-year-old places is clearly that ministers should not try to expand the system faster than high quality places can be created, and should not spread the funding so thinly that quality is compromised. Notes to editors: Early Education (The British Association for Early Childhood Education) is the leading independent national charity for early years practitioners and parents, campaigning for the right of all children to education of the highest quality. Founded in 1923, it has members in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and provides a national voice on matters that relate to effective early childhood education and care of young children from birth to eight. The organisation supports the professional development of practitioners through publications, training, conferences, seminars and access to a national and regional branch network.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 20:13:39 +0000
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