I’m reminded of peanuts and monkeys with this latest Tory gimmick, aimed at winning votes.
It takes years to train to be an early-years educator. You must know the psychology of learning, behaviour and stimulating education at the right level. You have to be intelligent and educated.
It takes no time at all to be a childminder. You just go in, play with the kids and try to keep them occupied. You don’t have to be particularly intelligent or educated. Being caring helps.
Pay peanuts you get monkeys.
If you want a childminder then fine – but don’t call it early-years education, call it childminding.
Having a planned strategy to train up a body of early-year educators, so that parents can have their children properly taught, takes time and money. Even if you pump in the money now they won’t be there for a few years. They need training and qualifications. There needs to be a proper career structure with commensurate pay scales.
Pumping in some funding to a severely depleted system without any strategy or structure results in a substandard increase in poor child-minding from unqualified, poorly paid, often poorly suited, staff.
Another gimmick to try to disguise what they have done through twelve years of cuts and neglect.
Britain is BROKEN following over a decade of cuts to staffing, salaries and services. All that money has been drained out of the system and channelled to the top wealthy 1%.
That’s why we’re having strikes!