Experienced and skilled early years practitioners could be lost to the sector because of the Government's campaign for childcare staff to be qualified to at least Level 3, according to leading nursery managers.
While they support the vision of raising the calibre and professionalism of the workforce, they also express doubts about how it will work out in practice, because they believe non-academic but talented staff could give up and leave.
A particular bugbear is the new Level 3 Children and Young People's Workforce Diploma, which is being developed by the Children's Workforce Development Council to become the sole Level 3 qualification.
The current CACHE and Edexcel childcare diplomas are equivalent to three A levels, but the new award has only 475 guided learning hours and there are concerns that it could carry a lower equivalence. Final details of the values the award will carry have still to be confirmed.
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:
What's included
-
Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month
-
Unlimited access to news and opinion
-
Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news
Already have an account? Sign in here