The early years trailblazer group’s refusal to change its stance on the need for GCSE equivalents at Level 3 led to several threats from DfE officials that it would be sacked, its former chair has said.
The early years trailblazers were eventually sacked in February, following three years of deadlock over the issue. The government said that the group had made 'very slow progress', with only one of nine standards published.
Just two weeks later, functional skills were reinstated as alternatives to GCSEs for the Early Years Educator qualification because of a crisis in recruitment at level 3.
Chrissy Meleady told Nursery World the trailblazers had a ‘three-year battle’ over the issue. She said, ‘We held the line at the request of employers in this three-year battle to get this result …. just two weeks before the Government backtracked on the GCSEs they stood us down.
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