Nursery World - To the point: Evaluations of early years initiatives

Evaluations of early years initiatives prompt some tough questions, asked by Helen Penn.

A recent survey from Durham University looked at the competence of 35,000 children starting primary school. It concluded that the Labour Government's policy on early years, from Sure Start to free nursery education, has made no difference.

This is the latest blow to the Government after a series of poor evaluation results of its early years initiatives. Why is this? Does it mean that investing in the early years is wasted?

There is no putting the clock back. All developed countries now provide some kind of early education, and to cancel that expectation would make us a laughing stock on the international scene. The provision of childcare is essential to support mothers working. But everything depends on implementation. And that has been the disaster. As one of my colleagues said to me,'How can the Government have got it so wrong?' They have dithered, replaced one initiative with another, and relied on short-term funding that leaves everyone in the air.

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