The money will help the sector move towards meeting the aspiration for a fully qualified workforce set out in Scotland's new national care standards for early education and childcare. It will be distributed via local authorities, which will be free to determine how the resources can be best used to meet local workforce development needs.
However, ministers want the funding to be used for accredited qualifications and believe this will have a positive impact on the professional status of those entering or working in the sector. Local authorities' plans are supposed to take account of the need for investment in all areas of the childcare workforce, particularly those employed in private and voluntary childcare centres and childminders.
Minister for education and young people Cathy Jamieson said, 'The quality of early years provision is directly linked to the quality and experience of people working in the early years profession. Children already benefit from the dedication and professionalism of staff in nurseries and pre-school centres. To build on this excellent foundation, we are investing 9.2m over three years to train new early years workers and develop the skills of the current workforce.
'By working to continually build on the skills of the early years workforce, we can make a real and lasting difference to the experience of children and families throughout Scotland.'
Ms Jamieson said the number of qualifications awarded in early years work had risen substantially and that 4,000 people had qualified since 1999, rising to 5,000 by September this year.
The funding could be used to improve access to training, for example by purchasing courses or paying for staff cover to allow other staff to train. It could also be used to increase the number of SVQ work-based assessors for childcare qualifications, for example by local authorities achieving Scottish Qualifications Authority approved centre status for the delivery of SVQs. Local authorities may also use the cash to help childcarers take nationally-recognised qualifications.
The Executive has made 2m available for this financial year and a further 3.6m for each of the following two years.
