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An oversupply of primary teachers may dictate the outcome of the Government's plans for the early years workforce, says Simon Vevers The Department for Education and Skills hopes that the creation of a single qualifications framework and a common core of skills and knowledge will bring some coherence to career progression within early years, which is currently awash with a myriad of qualifications. Its Children's Workforce Strategy, currently out for consultation, also raises the importance of having suitably qualified - graduate - early years teachers in charge of daycare settings.

The Department for Education and Skills hopes that the creation of a single qualifications framework and a common core of skills and knowledge will bring some coherence to career progression within early years, which is currently awash with a myriad of qualifications. Its Children's Workforce Strategy, currently out for consultation, also raises the importance of having suitably qualified - graduate - early years teachers in charge of daycare settings.

On the surface it would seem that this is easily achievable. Currently teacher training is at a 30-year high, with the Teacher Training Agency's census for 2003-04 showing the number of primary trainees at 16,500. Most qualify through one-year postgraduate courses, a growing number through work-based routes, and fewer and fewer through the four-year BEd course, which is now regarded as an expensive option.

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