Clarification needed on Brown’s announcement
Source: NCMA Press Office ( 2/10/2009 )
Responding to the Prime Minister's announcement at the Labour
Party Conference that 250,000 2-year-olds would be entitled to 10
hours of free childcare by the end of the next parliament Andrew
Fletcher, Joint Chief Executive of the National Childminding
Association said:
“NCMA welcomes initiatives which increase the provision of good
quality early years childcare, but we will need further information
about how the offer will be targeted and who will benefit.
“While there is strong evidence about the benefits of an early
education offer for 3- and 4-year-olds, evidence on the benefits
for 2-year-olds is less clear. The pilot scheme, giving free
childcare to around 20,000 2-year-olds, has been shown to offer
limited benefits unless the provision is of the highest quality.
Greater clarity is needed on the benefits and how we improve
quality across the sector before the scheme is rolled out to a
quarter of a million children.
“Registered childminders consistently offer high quality
provision. Ofsted figures show that last year more than 60 per cent
received a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ grading. However, only
childminders who are members of accredited childminding networks
are eligible to provide the entitlement and NCMA would urge the
Government to make it a statutory requirement that all local
authorities must establish a childminding network.”