Speaking during the NUT annual conference, Christine Blower said that the extension of free nursery education for three- and four-year-olds had not been accompanied by sufficient funding.
She criticised government for "simply expecting teachers to work longer" and said that teachers should not be exploited.
"Early years teachers were simply expected to work longer, even when they taught two separate groups of children during the day," she said. "This meant that many had few or no breaks and no time to do any of their other essential duties, such as talk to parents and children."
Blower said the introduction of the Early Years Single Funding Formula had caused a loss of income in some settings, causing reductions in staff numbers and more pressure on early years teachers’ workload.
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