Nick Gibb, the shadow schools secretary, announced the plans on Monday at a fringe debate at the Conservative conference in Manchester.
'The Early Years Foundation Stage has become a bureaucratic nightmare and it's typical of the bureaucratic approach to education that we oppose,' he was quoted as saying in The Guardian. 'The idea that you have to fill in tick-boxes of 117 objectives... We have to trust our professionals, not have these forms asking whether a child can tie its shoelaces or hold a rattle. We've got to get rid of that kind of approach to education.'
However, Bernadette Duffy, head of Thomas Coram Early Childhood Centre and chair of Early Education, said, 'I think Mr Gibb has some misunderstandings of what the EYFS is and how it is used. After all, it was actually the last Conservative administration that introduced the idea of outcomes and goals.'
She added, 'There are some parts of the EYFS that I would like to see reviewed, including some of the literacy goals, but on the whole I think it has been really important, particularly for disadvantaged children. I would hope that any review by the Conservative party would focus on how all children can get the very best early education.'
Janni Nichol, early childhood representative of the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, said, 'The EYFS exemptions process is a bureaucratic nightmare and I would like to see that side of things made more straightforward, but I would not want to lose the EYFS completely. I would, however, like the statutory nature of it to be dropped.'
Meanwhile, Maria Miller, shadow minister for Children, Schools and Families, has pledged '100 per cent commitment' to continuing the work of Sure Start under a Conservative administration.
Speaking at 4Children's fringe event 'Sure Start Children's Centres: What Future?', held at the Conservative party conference on Tuesday, Ms Miller added that the Conservatives would increase family support by offering more health visitor services at children's centres.
Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said, 'We now want to hear from George Osborne that the necessary resources will be made available to make this commitment a reality.'
In his speech to the conference on Tuesday, Mr Osborne announced a series of cuts, including:
- An end to tax credits for families earning £50,000 a year or more
- Abolishing Child Trust Funds completely, except for the poorest families and disabled children
- He also announced a one-year pay freeze in 2011 for public sector workers earning more than £18,000 a year.
