Nursery World - Hodge grilled on early years pay (1)

Minister for children Margaret Hodge faced a grilling from early years and childcare delegates last week who demanded higher pay to combat the problem of staff retention and recruitment. During a question and answer session with Mrs Hodge at the Council for Awards in Childcare and Education seminar 'Assessment Matters' in London, Dr Ken Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, suggested that the reason for the high turnover of staff who leave the early years sector in their thirties was a lack of career structure. But this was disputed by a delegate, who received loud applause for asserting that low pay was the real issue to be addressed.

During a question and answer session with Mrs Hodge at the Council for Awards in Childcare and Education seminar 'Assessment Matters' in London, Dr Ken Boston, chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, suggested that the reason for the high turnover of staff who leave the early years sector in their thirties was a lack of career structure. But this was disputed by a delegate, who received loud applause for asserting that low pay was the real issue to be addressed.

In response, Mrs Hodge acknowledged that while the Government had achieved much in increasing salaries for teachers, this was not the case for the early years workforce. She said, 'I'm really conscious of it. You only get what you pay for', and added, 'I think if we're really to value the early years sector we have to reflect it in pay.'

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