Putting forward a question to the speakers at London Early Years Foundation’s (LEYF) annual debate yesterday (Thursday 16 November), Aynsley-Green said, that across all the sectors, not just early years, there is a denial of the importance of children because of political indifference. And somehow ‘we have to get the message across about why children are so important’, including the economics of investing in childhood to ‘spell it out to politicians’.
He said the situation in this country is a ‘national disgrace’, and added, ‘What would the alien from Mars have to say about us and our pathetic attitude to the importance of children.’
Aynsley-Green went on to say how other countries, such as Japan, Italy and Russia are all experiencing a decline in birth rates, and that we need ‘babies because of the overwhelming rise of elderly people to look after’.
He challenged politicians to come forward with a ‘vision for what the early years should look like in this country’.
Aynsley-Green compared England to Finland and Estonia where early years workers are all graduates, are well-paid and respected.
He said that ‘everyone should kick the doors down to get people to listen to why children are so important’.
Neil Leitch, one of the speakers at the debate, called the first Children’s Commissioner’s comments ‘refreshing’ and ‘inspirational’.
However, he argued that ‘until we get somebody that has a backbone, that is able to argue with Treasury and someone that doesn’t see out children to get to a higher position of responsibility, we are going to be constantly banging the same drum’.
Also speaking at the event was LEYF’s chief executive June O’Sullivan, Courteney Donaldson, managing director of childcare and education at Christie & Co, Sarah Ronan, acting director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition and Josie Irwin, senior national officer within Unison’s Equality Unit.
