I have read with interest, but growing disappointment, the debate over childcare workers gaining degree status to further their careers.
I gained a BTec National Diploma in Caring Services in 1992 and, like Judith Baxter describes (Letters, 17 August), worked my way through the ranks in the private and public sector. Over the past 16 years I have undertaken many training sessions and courses, and I have run a social care nursery centre for the last eight years.
Do 'higher powers' really think it is necessary for all managers to hold a degree, or do experience and life skills still count? Do I tell the students I work with not to bother with their NVQ 2 and 3, because if they aspire to manage a childcare setting they will need a degree?
I consider myself an early years professional and would like recognition as such, yet am disqualified from gaining EYP status because I do not have a degree. Someone holding a degree who has very little childcare or management experience can call themselves EYP within 15 months.
I, and many colleagues, wonder what the future holds for us non-degree holders. Will we be competing for our jobs against those with a high level of education but little or no practical experience?
I have often felt misunderstood and undervalued by others as a childcare worker, but now I am feeling let down by my own profession.
I hope that those responsible for rolling out future training programmes will begin to recognise that there are highly skilled, competent managers who do not hold degrees but who are capable of doing their jobs and are entitled to the respect that their position should bring.
Nicola Carpenter, Rochester, Kent
