News Analysis: Quality concerns threaten 2013 plan for two-year-olds
Catherine Gaunt
Monday, July 11, 2011
Finding sufficient high-quality childcare to expand free early education to all disadvantaged two-year-olds by 2013 could be problematic, research suggests.
A Government-commissioned study, Rolling out free early education fordisadvantaged two-year-olds, by the NCB and the National Centre forSocial Research, said that the Department for Education may need toconsider 'how much variation in quality would be acceptable' and ifproviders delivering the free offer should follow nationalguidelines.
Previous studies have found childcare in disadvantaged areas tends to beof a lower quality than in more affluent areas.
Working with health visitors and others, local authorities should usebirth data to draw up a comprehensive list of children in their area whowould be eligible for the offer before they turn two, in order to targetfree places more effectively, said the study.
It also found that in areas where childcare demand and childcare costswere high, it was sometimes difficult to find enough providers to offerthe free places. However, where childcare costs and demand for childcarewere low, the offer could help some nurseries stay sustainable.
Researchers visited eight local authority areas already offering thefree two-year-old places.
They found authorities were keen to ensure that the offer fortwo-year-olds was of high quality, but that 'as the programme is scaledup, it could prove challenging to find enough settings of sufficienthigh quality.' Ofsted ratings were not seen as sufficient to assess thequality.
The study suggests the DfE might want to produce a list of approvedquality schemes.
As the number of free places for two-year-olds expands, nurseries withlimited experience of providing childcare for vulnerable families willneed training, it adds.
