Nursery staff wages call
Early-years review sparks union demands for action
NURSERY workers should be given better pay and qualifications as part of a drive to improve the quality of early-year education, a Scottish Government-commissioned review has found.
The Independent Review of the Scottish Early Learning and Childcare Workforce made the recommendations after concluding that many pre-school providers were paying little more than the minimum wage to staff and that the number of qualified early-years teachers was decreasing.
The report, by internationally-renowned early-years expert Professor Iram Siraj, called for a 15-year vision to reform Scotland’s childcare workforce.
However, public services union Unison said Scotland’s children could not wait 15 years and called for urgent reform.
Meanwhile, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) called on the Scottish Government to ensure qualified teachers were at the heart of early years education.
Following the report’s publication, Angela Constance, the Education Secret ary, earmarked £1 million to implement some of the review’s recommendations.
Ms Constance said: “The early years are a crucial point in a child’s development, therefore it is vital that we invest in those tasked with caring for and educating our young children.
“By boosting skills and recognising the value of the early-years workforce, we will attract the brightest and best to the sector. I’m pleased we can allocate £1 million to continue staff development in the sector.”
Poor pay and training has been a constant feature of early-years childcare, with the National Research Council concluding in 2001 that there was “a serious mismatch between the preparation and compensation of the average early childhood professional and the growing expectations of parents and policy makers”.
The report said: “Despite the upskilling of the workforce, unequal rates of pay remain within early learning and childcare – with the largest inequalities in the private and third sector. Low wages and high expectations are also found in the out-of-school care sector.”
Poor pay and training was more prevalent in the private sector and the report found a migration of carers to public-sector work following the Scottish Government’s decision to increase free childcare for three and four-year-olds.
The report recommended: “If children’s outcomes are to be supported and enhanced, it is important to ensure that there are highly-qualified and knowledgeable practitioners in all settings who lead learning and sensitively support families in developing a stimulating home lear ning environment.”
It also recommended: “All practitioners should receive the living wage, or above, rather than the minimum wage.”
National childcare agency Children in Scotland said they “consider that it is an anomaly that those who work with children at this critical and formative stage generally have the lowest level of qualification and the worst pay and conditions in the children and young people’s workforce.”