The two-year scheme follows an audit by Dumfries and Galloway Council which found low levels of qualification. The council's childcare development officer Neil Carruthers said the decision had been prompted in part by forthcoming changes to regulation. The Scottish Executive intends to set qualification standards for childcare workers 'in due course', though it is not yet known when these standards will be set or what they will be.
'The programme is aimed at all childcare workers, including childminders, private sector nurseries, out-of-school care and pre-school education providers,' Mr Carruthers said. 'We will focus on SVQ2 and SVQ3, as we found these were the qualifications most childcarers wanted, and fund about two-thirds of the cost.'
The council ran a series of roadshows throughout Dumfries and Galloway last autumn to explain the funding available and what the training would involve and find out which courses people would prefer.
It found that demand for full-time courses such as the NC and HNC was negligible and interest in the SVQs predominated, to fit round existing jobs.
The council's survey also revealed that the proportion of qualified staff in the childcare workforce was lower than the numbers going through childcare college courses suggested. Mr Carruthers said childcare students might be finishing FE courses and then deciding to pursue other professions.
'I think this is because of the low pay,' he said. 'Our new programme will be training people who are already in the sector, so hopefully they will stay in it.'
The programme will be funded with Scottish Executive cash allocated to local authorities specifically for childcare training last year.
* Dumfries and Galloway is also pushing ahead with its Sure Start initiative to improve provision for under-threes. Sure Start service manager Anne Macfarlane said, 'It's a real gap - there's nothing really targeted at under-threes, and a lot of mother and toddler groups are dying a death because of the increase in nursery provision.'
Sure Start money has been used to reserve places at existing groups and to refurbish facilities, creating spaces for different agencies such as health and social services to work together.
