Truss reveals plan for more rigorous early years qualifications

The proposals are part of government efforts to boost the quality of early education and make childcare more affordable, so that parents are able to go back to work.

Childcare minister Elizabeth Truss argued that the introduction of more rigorous training and qualifications will pave the way to relax the rules that govern ratios of staff to children in childcare settings.

Truss said the government plans to base its reforms of childcare in England on the system of écoles maternelles in France, where better-qualified workers are paid around £16,000 annually, compared to about £13,000 in the UK.

In England, nursery staff are allowed to look after a maximum of three one-year-olds, but in France they can care for five.

In settings where there is an Early Years Educator working with children, Truss said that one nursery worker will be able to look after four babies or one-year-olds rather than three.

The plans will also see the introduction of new childminder agencies, to encourage more mothers to become childminders. These “hubs” will deal with the bureaucratic side of becoming a childminder and help make sure that professionals are properly trained and qualified.

One childminder will be able to look after two babies rather than one and four under-fives rather than three.

Truss said government must do everything it can to help make childcare affordable to parents, while providing high-quality early education to children.
 
“When parents hand their child over to the care of a childminder or nursery they are not just entrusting them with their child’s physical safety; they are also entrusting their child’s brain,” she said.

“With this in mind it is no longer acceptable that childcare professionals are not required to have a GCSE grade C or above in English and Maths.
 
“Parents want a choice of quality home based care, quality nursery care or a combination of the two. Our proposals for overhauling childcare qualifications, having early years teachers, and childminding agencies, underpinned by a robust inspection regime, will provide this.”
 
Truss warned that too many early years settings do not currently use the maximum ratios of staff to children, adding that Ofsted inspections would be refocussed to reward settings that do.

“We think teacher-led settings with full ratios and structured activities are a good thing,” she said. “Ofsted will favour this too. We do not mean to stipulate how all settings should behave, but we want parents to have the choice.”