Treat early years staff `like Educators` says Early Years Alliance

This week is Childcare and Early Education Week, an annual event set up to increase awareness of the amazing work done by those working in the early years sector. Instigated by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in 2017, educators are encouraged to use the week to contact their MPs with any concerns they may have.

The Early Years Alliance, an educational charity representing 14,000 members, and providing care and learning to over 800,000 families annually, has used this week to warn of the severe damage being caused by the government failing to invest in the EYFS sector (Early Years Foundation Stage.)

In last year`s October spending review, the government stood by its previous commitment to increase teachers` starting salaries to £30,000. This `incredibly compelling offer` would surely make teaching an `attractive graduate option,` ministered argued, and would surely attract `the best and brightest,` into the profession.

This wage is around above the national average, (£31,285 as of 2021) but it seems the EYFS sector will not be in receipt of such largess. Only a month after the announcement the Low Pay Commission brought out its 2021 report - and once again the early years was noted to be a `low paying sector.`

A recent publication by the Social Mobility Commission, disclosed that the average hourly wage for those in the early years workforce is only £7.42 - that`s well below the minimum wage of £8.91. The report also revealed the astounding fact that a significant portion of this workforce are paid as little as £5.00 an hour. It`s hardly surprising, given the demands of the job (in loco parentis responsibilities, considerable paperwork) that one in six leave the profession within their first year.

The demographics of the sector are interesting: over 95% of the workforce are women, and 40% are under the age of 30. Many early years workers complain there is a lack of training and few opportunities for professional development. A 2019 investigation conducted by Nursery World magazine uncovered the shameful fact that around 14% of those who work in the early years sector are living in relative poverty.

The importance of these early years to a child`s future development are well known. Study after study have shown that the first five years of a child`s life - the period where their brains have maximal neural plasticity, and subsequently their learning potential is at its peak - are absolutely crucial to their later academic development. It is indeed lamentable that we seem to value so little those who educate our children at this tender age.

The early years sector are registered and inspected by Osted, in just the same way that schools are. Nurseries and pre-schools are fully part of the system of education, part of the chain that gives every child the opportunity to attend university. Despite this many don`t fully respect the early years sector - a fact proven by the lack of proper funding. Who knows what boost we might see in our exam results, if nurseries and pre-schools were provided the same attention that schools and universities receive?