After all, few are in it for the money. But it is sometimes easy toforget that not everybody is convinced that early years education andchildcare are always needed, let alone that taxpayers should pay forit.
The incomprehension, derision and deliberate misrepresentation thatcharacterised much of the press coverage of the publication of theChildcare Bill last week was a salutary reminder of this, however."Toddlers taught to speak by state diktat", "Opponents attack toddlercurriculum", and "Baby education 'absolute madness'" were just some ofthe headlines.
What they reveal is not so much an objection to the content of what theGovernment is proposing; rather, it taps into public scepticism aboutthe value of early years education itself, no matter what the content.And along with that comes scepticism about the need for professionaltraining, and professional status and pay, for the childcare and earlyyears workforce. After all, if Nan can look after the children then whywould someone need a degree?
Underlying this scepticism is a hostility to state interference in whatis regarded as the realm of the family; to the Government taking on ajob that in the past was mostly done by full-time mums and other familymembers.
It is right to put in place a framework that fosters consistency, thatallows parents to expect similar things to happen, and similar outcomes,no matter what the setting in which they choose to place theirchild.
But there is also a legitimate fear, both among professionals as well asoutside the sector, that regulation and prescription could lead to anoveremphasis on school-like learning rather than broad child developmentand the relationship between young children and their carers. Thetemptation will be to slip into a box-ticking mindset. This must not beallowed to happen.
Even if everything is done right, there will still be a long way to gobefore people start to care about childcare and early education in thesame way that they care about the NHS. Poor practice must not be allowedto obscure or undermine its benefits, or fuel the worst fears of thesceptics.
