Thursday 2 March 2017

Early Years and Childcare

This is Pat Rowland's, UNISON Scotland, speech at Scottish Labour Party Conference on Early Education and childcare.  
 
"Early Education and childcare has become a political football over the years with publicly provided provision becoming a hostage to fortune at the whim of councils trying to manage SNP and Tory cuts to Local Authorities.
Early years establishments follow education standards.
The mix of private and publicly  funded childcare doesn't work.
 
The publicly funded provision employs highly qualified professionals in the field whereas private provision has first of all to make a profit at the expense of lower wages, qualified staff with support workers and sometimes much poorer quality.
 
High quality childcare is imperative to enable women to reach their potential and ensure their independence.