Opinion: Letters

Having read 'Unify funding for ages two to 11' (News, 1 April) and seen the reports stating there is cross-party consensus on this proposal, I would like to put into open discussion some of the risks that lie behind this initiative.

We have for many years trod a very dangerous path in encouraging 'schools reachdown'. This initiative would continue this trend, with the only feasible conclusion being the aim to send children to school from age two.

Why, when the weight of evidence in terms of coming out in favour of children starting school later, usually between six to seven years old, is overwhelming, is the UK taking this seemingly egotistical stance?

The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that either HMG UK believes that schools are indeed the best place to send children from age of two, or that as the UK has a falling birth rate, our children are being 'hijacked' to keep teachers in a job - or both.

Notwithstanding the various cost implications on the already high UK plc debt, history tells us that Governments should facilitate, not operate in sectors. The coal, steel, shipping, rail, automotive and other industries have all failed when the public purse is in charge.

Perhaps a more recent example is in the turmoil that care for the aged has experienced when run by the public purse.

If you couple this initiative with that of the 16-to-18 schools agenda, we are left with a plan that places our children in schools from age two to 18 and renders our non-maintained pre-school sector redundant.

Pre-school childcare in its numerous forms offers a rich and diverse range of suppliers, from childminders to nursery school, from grandparent to parental home-schooling.

If there is anything that should not fall into the category of 'one size fits all', it is children. Why, then, are we proposing a one-size-fits-all education?

Everyone realises that there are a very small number of children who live in deprived and/or chaotic situations who should be continually helped by state intervention. However, HMG needs to really examine their objectives with this funding and make sure that what is best for young children lies at the heart of making decisons.

We need to let children be children, who develop through life-experienced play, before we 'institutionalise' them.

Stewart Hindmarsh, director, The Cedars Nursery, Ashbrooke, Sunderland

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WHY WE NEED SICK PAY

I agree wholeheartedly with the mother who wrote about her children's nursery staff not receiving any sick pay (Letters, 8 April).

In a Unison survey of visitors to the Nursery World Show, over 50 per cent of childcare workers said they received no sick pay. This is not a practice fit for 21st century workplaces. It places children and the workforce at greater risk when staff cannot afford to be off work.

Low pay in childcare settings means that those least able to afford to take time off work feel forced to attend when sick. Reasonable sick pay should be every worker's right. By providing it employers can reduce risks of contamination, reduce staff turnover rates and improve the morale and productivity of staff.

Unison believes that whatever the colour of the next Government, a commission to look at establishing minimum standards for the pay and conditions of early years staff should be a priority.

Ben Thomas, Unison National Officer

SHARING THE RADIO

It is widely reported that the BBC will bow to pressure and not axe 6 Music and Asian Network. However, last year's protests over the axing of mainstream children's radio were ignored.

Leaders in education and childcare have proposed a children's radio network in partnership with the BBC, to fortify the National Year of Speech, Language & Communication in 2011. If the two adult formats are reprieved, they should share one network and the other be dedicated to the young.

Susan Stranks, National Campaign for Children's Radio

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