The equal opportunities and employment minister said there would be no changes to what has been announced already regarding the national standards, which the Department for Education and Employment expects to publish sometime this week. This means that from September, as well as childminders being allowed to smack and smoke, daycare managers and all in supervisory roles must hold a level 3 qualification appropriate to caring for children, with those in charge of baby rooms to have in addition two years' experience with that age group, and at least half of the remaining staff qualified to level 2.
Mrs Hodge made her comments last Wednesday in Portcullis House, Westminster, during the Select Committee on Education's follow-up meeting on the early years. During a lengthy cross-examination she said that 'we have consulted quite widely on the national standards and most of the news will be very welcome to the early years and childcare sector'.
At one point, asked by committee member Charlotte Atkins what she would say to NNEBs who feel devalued and demotivated, Mrs Hodge said, 'I try to reassure them that as we expand the sector the opportunities grow, as we introduce teaching assistants into schools the opportunities grow, and as we provide the routes to further qualifications the opportunities grow.' Ms Atkins responded, 'They believe they have particular qualities - they are looking at the holistic view of the child coming into a nursery or an education setting, and that to suggest they train as teachers reinforces the view that they are undervalued and therefore they want their own qualities to be recognised.'
Regarding childminders, Mrs Hodge said the real issue was not smacking and smoking but the relationship between a childminder and a child's parents. 'The debate is where the boundaries lie between the state choosing to regulate and parents determining an appropriate behaviour code for the person they are putting in charge of looking after their child.' She added, 'One of the things that convinced me we had got that boundary right was when I met a group of professionals who said this was an issue on which professionals know best. I was outraged. All parents care about their kids and care about their health, and this sort of judgement that some other professionals can make a better judgement over what is best for the child is just very wrong.
'If smoking and smacking is so terrible, should the Big Brother state come in and say, "We will imprison anybody who smacks a child"?' Barry Sheerman, the select committee chairman, told Mrs Hodge, 'I would hate to follow your logic when we talk about capital punishment. There is a very clear majority for it in polls, but as politicians we have said this is not the way we wish to go.'
