The funding for EYPs and the New Leaders in Early Years programmes will continue to be administered through the Children's Workforce Development Council.
Writing in her Nursery World column this week, Ms Teather (pictured) said, 'A highly skilled early years workforce is critical if we are to combat inequality, help tackle poverty and improve the life chances of the most disadvantaged children. It's simply not good enough that the highest early achievers from disadvantaged backgrounds are overtaken by more well-off, lower achieving children by the age of five.'
The second intake of the New Leaders programme, a two-year scheme for graduates outside the sector, which is run by the CWDC in partnership with Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent, starts next month. After completing the course, candidates are awarded EYPS and an early years Masters degree.
The CWDC said it would work with the DfE on a new tender for an EYPS programme, which will take into account important developments to be announced in the spring, including the review of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
It is likely that the next intake for EYPS under the new arrangements will be in January 2012. In the meantime, 4,200 existing EYP candidates will continue with their training and assessment.
Assistant director for early intervention and prevention at the CWDC, Judith Thompson, said, 'This is fantastic news which will further boost graduate leadership of the early years sector. There are over 6,000 Early Years Professionals already trained and the value they are bringing to the early years settings in which they work is now becoming evident through research.
'The Government's commitment to the EYPS programme and to attracting top graduates into the profession will ensure that the quality of provision will be raised in many more settings across England, improving outcomes for many more young children.'
The Graduate Leader Fund has been absorbed into the new Early Intervention Grant, giving local authorities a choice on how they spend the funding, according to local need.
Ms Teather said, 'The Early Intervention Grant brings together funding for Sure Start, youth and family support for the most vulnerable children and will give local authorities greater freedom and flexibility in designing local services. This includes the recruitment and deployment of graduate leaders and investment in other qualifications to support the wider workforce.
'I do hope that local authorities will recognise the strong evidence for investing in a high-quality workforce when taking these decisions. The leading authorities are already planning how to target funding on areas and settings serving the children who are most likely to fall behind their peers at the age of five.'
However, it appears that the target to have an EYP in every early years setting by 2015 has been abandoned.
A Department for Education spokesperson said, 'The Government is committed to a highly qualified workforce, but we need to get the balance right between improving qualifications and skills and not over-regulating the sector. We want to move away from the previous Government's target-driven approach but provide national funding which will be focused on graduate qualifications.'
- Evidence of how graduate training is having a positive impact on early years workers and their settings has emerged in the results of the first nationwide survey of EYPs.
The three-year study by Wolverhampton University on behalf of the CWDC found that 80 per cent of EYPs surveyed said that EYPS increased their confidence as a practitioner. More than three-quarters questioned also felt that EYPS enhanced their professional status.
Thom Crabbe, national programme manager for early years at CWDC, said, 'The survey is significant in that it really underlines the value of a graduate-level programme in the sector.'
See this week's analysis for the full findings.
