Nursery World - Higher staff training demand

The Scottish Independent Nurseries Association (SINA) has expressed surprise and disappointment at the Scottish Executive's proposed qualification requirements for childcare staff and has called for a higher standard. The Executive proposed before Christmas that at least half the staff in any facility dealing with children younger than compulsory school age should be qualified, which it defined as holding any of the qualifications mentioned in its document Working for Children. This includes both level 2 and level 3 qualifications.

The Executive proposed before Christmas that at least half the staff in any facility dealing with children younger than compulsory school age should be qualified, which it defined as holding any of the qualifications mentioned in its document Working for Children. This includes both level 2 and level 3 qualifications.

The deadline for responses to the proposals was last week.

SINA pointed out that many of its members have been working towards a goal of having 100 per cent of staff qualified and added, 'Given the enormous amount of money that central government has poured into training for early years staff, we would have hoped that the requirement for qualified staff would have increased from the Children Act 1989 minimum.

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