Nursery World - Wales and Scotland vote for early years

Political parties contesting the parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales report that early years education is emerging as a big issue for voters. The Scottish National Party is pledging to increase free nursery education by 50 per cent for three- and four-year-olds and is committing itself to providing access to a fully qualified nursery teacher for every child and creating a dedicated early years teaching degree.

The Scottish National Party is pledging to increase free nursery education by 50 per cent for three- and four-year-olds and is committing itself to providing access to a fully qualified nursery teacher for every child and creating a dedicated early years teaching degree.

Labour is promising to extend free nursery education to the 10,000 most deprived two-year-olds while increasing the entitlement for three- and four-year- olds to 15 hours per week for 38 weeks a year. This will be matched by the Liberal Democrats, who say they will convert PrimaryOne into a transitional year, delaying formal learning to concentrate on play.

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