Speaking at the Early Years Alliance’s annual conference this evening (15 June), its chief executive Neil Leitch, criticised the Government’s approach to the planned expansion of the 30-hours offer to younger children, arguing that the proposals have ‘absolutely nothing to do with supporting early language or child development or improving children’s life chances.’
He said that ‘Government has piled more pressure on our sector’, warning that while the sector was resilient, ‘early years educators are at risk of burnout’.
Leitch went on to say, ‘For all the talk of the mums who can go back to work as a result of the new offer, and the boost it will give to the economy, there was absolutely no mention of quality. No mention of good practice. No mention of the standard of care and education that these children should be receiving.
‘And those charged with the stewardship of our children’s education and care, stood back, rolled over and allowed our children to become numbers on a Treasury spreadsheet.’
In a response to a question from a delegate about what action the sector can take other than striking, Leitch said we ‘shouldn’t accept this rubbish’, but ‘we must keep going as no-one else will help us.’
Preventing poverty
Also speaking at the virtual conference, which was titled ‘Families at Heart’ was Lord John Bird, owner of The Big Issue, who spoke about the importance of early years and his difficult childhood.
Lord Bird, a crossbench life peer, told delegates how he, along with his siblings, spent three years as a child in an orphanage when his parents were unable to pay the rent. After leaving the orphanage, he got into ‘trouble’. However, he turned his life around after learning to read and write in prison, securing a job as a printer and then meeting a millionaire who gave him funding to launch the Big Issue.
He is now in the process of setting-up a new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the business response to social crises and has invited Katya Ozols, owner of the Cybertots nursery group in London, to be a member.
The APPG will look at how funding structures could break the cycle of poverty rather than reinforce it.
Lord Bird is also advocating for a ministry of poverty within Government.
He told delegates that ‘none of the Government departments prevent poverty or provide an exit out. The Department for Work and Pensions help people to make the most of their poverty.’
‘We’ve got to do this’, he said. ‘How do we destroy poverty? We do it in those early years.’
He added, ‘If we don’t sort early years, we are screwed.
‘We need to destroy poverty.’
Responding to Leitch's comments, a Department for Education spokesperson said, 'This is simply not true. We know high-quality early education and care has positive outcomes on a child’s social skills and attainment and our largest expansion of free childcare in England will mean more children and brilliant early years staff will benefit.
'We are investing £180m in training and qualifications for the early years workforce, with a particular focus on supporting children’s early speech and language development. This is alongside the fully funded graduate routes that are already available, and we are looking at new apprenticeship and degree apprenticeship routes to support career progression.'