Nursery World - To the point: You must be kidding

Trying to have a childcare system like the French does not come for free, says Vidhya Alakeson

Childcare minister Liz Truss is arguing that British settings should be more like French 'ecoles maternelles'. Teacher led and offering more structured activities than UK nurseries, it's questionable whether British parents would accept such structured environments. But there's also the much bigger one: would childcare be more affordable as the Government claims?

The Government's plan seems simple on the face of it. Nurseries and childminders who have better qualified staff will be able to operate with less strict ratios. The money saved by allowing each adult to care for more children will be spent on paying the better qualified staff more. So far, the plan makes sense and is in line with existing regulations which permit settings with a qualified teacher to relax their ratios. But then the plan seems to go awry.

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