Scottish government urged to use European funds to boost childcare
Janaki Mahadevan
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is being encouraged to use European funding to provide universal early education for children aged under three.
Charity Children in Scotland is calling on the Scottish government to introduce a legal entitlement for every child to have access to good early education from the age of six months.
The charity cited commitments made at the European Council summit in Barcelona in 2002, where member states agreed to provide more than 30 hours of childcare a week to 90 per cent of children aged three to school age and at least 33 per cent of children aged under three.
The European Commission also encouraged its members to use EU structural funds to improve quality and supply of childcare.
Bronwen Cohen, chief executive of Children in Scotland, said: ?“Children under three do better in countries that have fully integrated early years systems accessible to all children and families, and where learning is recognised as beginning at birth.
“The European Structural Funds give Scotland the chance to develop the services young children and their families need, to invest in the infrastructure that will support economic recovery and to become a European leader in early childhood education and care.”
The charity said the funds could be used to develop the workforce and support the introduction of a degree in social pedagogy to improve children’s outcomes.
A Scottish government spokesman said: “This government has made a significant investment in early learning and childcare, including £4.5m towards early learning and childcare for looked-after two-year-olds and a further £4.5m to promote community-based solutions to family support and childcare.
"This is drawn down from a wider £270m early years change fund which will accelerate and prioritise spend in the early years across the whole public sector.
“In March, the First Minister announced a legislative commitment to the future of Scotland’s children and families, pledging to increase the amount of free nursery education from 475 hours a year to over 600 hours.
"The move will create the best package of nursery education provision on offer anywhere in the UK, and will help families by delivering improved childcare to around 120,000 children across Scotland and will apply to every three- and four-year-old as well as the most vulnerable two-year-olds.”
