Four year old children risk falling behind because nursery teachers are poorly educated

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) has revealed, in report published last month, that a quarter of early years teachers possess no qualifications beyond GCSE`s. This category of pedagogues, which are generally termed `early years practitioners` includes child minders, nursery teachers, and assistants. While many would say that this is not a particular problem, that nursery children do not need professors or esteemed academics to help them learn, the report states quite clearly that many 4 year old children are in grave risk of falling behind because of the lack of qualified instructors.

The report`s author, Sara Bonetti, has said that if the foundations for a child`s education are not securely laid down, there can be educational deficits later in life:

`Of course having a higher qualified workforce will have a better impact on children`s outcomes. There is national and international evidence which shows that a highly skilled and highly qualified workforce has a positive benefit for children.`

`This can be physical development, such as sitting down or holding a pen correctly, socio-emotional development and cognitive development which are key to school-readiness, and pre-literacy skills like recognising letters and sounds.`

It`s true of course that the education system for pupils in later years is more stratified and organised: there`s an expectation that by a certain age the pupil will be up to a certain level in mathematics and english - but for nursery there is very little of this regimentation. Of course this is mainly because the children are so young, and this raises the question: at what age should children start their formal education? Children can`t but help learning, they are like sponges, soaking up information. Just look at the way they acquire language (still an utterly mysterious process, and certainly one no adult can match) - just by listening to scraps of conversation taking place around them a child will naturally learn the grammar, syntax and vocabulary. If more than one language is being spoken at home, the child will effortlessly pick this up. There is even evidence that foetuses can learn in the womb! With this kind of learning potential, perhaps more focus needs to be put in nursery education, for it is recorded that after the age of 7, the so called `critical window` begins to close permanently, resulting in a marked diminishment in learning potential. An example of this is the fact that a four year old will learn a language with greater ease than a 10 year old. Of course children aren`t just at nursery to develop academically - they are learning social skills, developing relationships with others, learning the value of teamwork and collaboration. If we seek to stifle their playtime (during which much is being learnt) with more and more lessons and tests, we may be damaging them socially.

The report, issued by the Education Policy Institute, and supported by the Nuffield Foundation, examined the salaries of nursery teachers, and found that there has been a significant real-term pay decrease over the last 10 years. Those working in nurseries have crucial role of in loco parentis, along with taking on some of the roles of social workers, and a host of other important tasks - but the report found that in 2018 their salaries were virtually the same as hairdressers and beauticians. This low pay meant that nearly half (44.5 per cent) of these early years workers were in the receipt of some kind of benefits.

The education secretary Damon Hinds has stressed the vital importance in these early years of a child`s education, cautioning that those four year olds who start primary school behind their peers very rarely catch up - indeed, as they get older `the gap just widens`. He has also complained that it is a `persistent scandal` that a significant number of children start school being unable to construct full sentences, or even able to read simple words. In a separate study published last year, it was revealed that children with a low vocabulary at the age of 5 are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as their peers who possess a good vocabulary by the time they reach 34.