The Government argues that it indicated its commitment to the early years in the coalition agreement and demonstrated that commitment in the Comprehensive Spending Review through its funding of the 15-hour free entitlement for all threeand four-year-olds and extending free nursery education to the most disadvantaged two-year-olds. Children and Families minister Sarah Teather also confirmed her commitment to a graduate workforce in questions at the Daycare Trust conference in November. However, announcements of cuts, changing duties and regulations appear to threaten these aspirations.
Research, specifically the EPPE study (http://eppe.ioe.ac.uk/), has linked better-quality provision to graduate staff qualifications. Yet under the changes to children's centres regulation, there will no longer be a requirement to employ staff with both Qualified Teacher Status and Early Years Professional Status in centres in the most disadvantaged areas. Such a change is likely to lead to a loss of qualified teachers in nursery education.
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