I read the Equal hours? research report by Professor Edward Melhuish and Dr Julian Gardiner with a sense of déjà vu. It comes on the back of the early years enjoying a run in the headlines in recent weeks. The Royal Foundation grabbed a few lines, and the ongoing closures of nurseries around the country is becoming more familiar. Fees need to rise to keep up with inflation and funding has been so low for so long that sustainability is a problem for every provider. The increasingly stark situation gives the impression that the sector isn't important to those in power, but it seemed to gain some status in Government when the Treasury suggested it as a route back to work (and paying tax) for those out of the labour market.
I’m not sure that this is what the EY sector should be known for – getting people back into work or surviving against the odds. The one thing that is consistently lacking is a strategy that puts the needs of children at its heart. We don't need a vision that sees childcare and education as a by-product of other ‘more important’ policies such as employability or business. It should be a priority quite simply because children are people with rights. The shift in consciousness from a support service to an asset requires the view that the early years are the foundation for everything that follows in the future.
Since 2010, this vision has been conspicuously absent. If aspirations cannot be developed and communicated by those in Government, it results in a fractured system. Everything – the curriculum, funding, hours, qualifications, training, pay – comes from this aim.
We need to talk about ‘quality’ instead of money. I despair every time I see a politician respond with, ‘We have invested an extra squillion pounds since we last did.’ It is meaningless political sleight of hand and a way of justifying doing nothing. With each new piecemeal initiative, we get further from what is needed, which is a rebuilding of the sector from the ground up with children at the core. A service held together by sticky tape and goodwill isn't sustainable.
We are not an add-on based on business principles; high-quality early years provision is a right. I appreciate nothing is free and there are many other services that are also under-funded, but until there is a clear vision that is underpinned by quality and not a monetary soundbite, it is going to be very hard to move on from where we are now.
