Qualifications review aims to improve career progression and standards
Karen Faux
Monday, July 25, 2011
An independent review of early years qualifications is to scrutinise the content of current qualifications and determine how they can be strengthened.
The move comes in the wake of sector criticism of the Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce, launched last September as the generic qualification for the early years workforce.
Professor Cathy Nutbrown, Professor of Education and Director for Research at the School of Education, University of Sheffield, is to head the review. She will focus on how qualifications can support career progression for those working in the Foundation Years.
The review will also consider how to ensure that entry qualifications are of a high standard and meet the needs of employers. It will run alongside a review of the standards for Early Years Professional Status, currently being conducted by the Children's Workforce Development Council, and a review of the National Occupational Standards.
Professor Nutbrown said, 'High quality provision for young children means that we need skilled and knowledgeable people in the workforce. I will be looking at ways we can strengthen qualifications and improve pathways to support career progression to the benefit of young children, their families and those who work in the early childhood sector.'
Other plans outlined by the Government to strengthen the early years workforce include:
- The setting up of ten early years teaching centres by Pen Green Research Base, intended to raise standards across the early years workforce
- A look at how the specialist leader of education (SLE) role can be adapted for the Foundation Years, for qualified teachers and early years professionals.
- Funding for the National College of School Leadership to provide 800 places on the National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL) course over the next two years.
Maggie Farrar, executive director for Leadership Development at the National College, said the drive towards NPQICL would be important for strengthening the workforce. 'This will help to support the continuous and sustained improvement of leadership development in children's centres across the country,' she said.
However, Ben Thomas, national officer at Unison, criticised the proposals for lacking a coherent strategy for the whole workforce. 'It seems to be mainly a list of pet projects,' he said. 'We are concerned at the reliance on the sector to lead its own improvement and on the ability of the Teaching Agency to deliver for the early years workforce.'
