The Government has unveiled plans for the creation of a 'family' of apprenticeships in England, ranging from 'young apprenticeships' for 14- to 16-year-olds to the opening up of apprenticeships to adults aged 25 and over.
But National Day Nurseries Association chief executive Rosemary Murphy said, 'Clearly, SSCs are going to be critical in the development of the new schemes, so we urgently need to get the SSC fully established with a strong voice for early years and childcare.'
Chris Pritchard, managing director of JACE Training in Wallington, Surrey, who has 30 years of experience as an employer in the childcare sector and 22 years as a training provider, agreed. She said, 'We have got to wait until we get our SSC before all this is sorted out. If we are creative it could be brilliant, but we have to make sure that the SSC listens to both the employers and the training providers. This is our opportunity to make sure childcare training is absolutely first-class.'
The Government set up SSCs after it abolished all 72 National Training Organisations, including the Early Years NTO, in March 2002. However, as the early years sector does not have a representative SSC, a scaled-down version of the NTO has been run by the Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education (CACHE) ever since.
The Department for Education and Skills said that it was working with SSCs that were 'already licensed and up and running, or were expected to do so in the near future, to develop appropriate provision for learners over the age of 25'.
CACHE chief executive Richard Dorrance said he expected that a 'shadow SSC'
for the early years sector would 'be up and running by this September' and described the apprenticeships for over-25s as 'brilliant news' for the early years sector.
He said, 'Traditionally in early years, a lot of entrants are over the age of 25. The Government's lifting the upper age range means that for the first time they can take apprenticeships and be paid at the same time.'
But Mr Dorrance said there was an issue with younger apprentices working in childcare. 'To do an apprenticeship you have to work with young children, and it is questionable whether someone as young as 14 would be mature enough to do so.
'But technical certificates that were introduced 18 months ago would be ideal for 14-year-olds, as they don't require work experience,' he added.
The move was also welcomed by the NDNA. Mrs Murphy said, 'We are pleased to see that the Government has renewed its commitment to apprenticeships and will be considering funding incentives for small- and medium-sized businesses. These will be vital to making the scheme a success in day nurseries.'
However, she said she detected a lack of joined-up thinking by the Government, as it had not linked the promotion of apprenticeships to young people to the 'enormous amount of work being done by the Sure Start Unit and the sector on the childcare recruitment campaign'.
At JACE, Mrs Pritchard stressed the benefits of work-based training over college-based learning. She said those trained in college often had to have further training in the 'practical side of things', while those who did on-the-job training 'can walk into employment and know exactly what they are doing'.
* Employers wanting to know more about apprenticeships can telephone 08000 150400 or see www.apprenticeships.org.uk.
