Commenting on the UCL study charting changes in early years
childcare provision over the past two decades, Kevin
Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the
National Education Union,
said:
"This report lays bare the problems with the highly privatised
system of childcare and early years education in
England.
'International evidence clearly shows that profit-driven
provision delivers worse quality education and care and that
marketised systems make it harder to provide places where
they are needed.
'As this report demonstrates, the English market in early years
provision is seeing worrying developments with the greater
involvement of large private for profit organisations and
private equity firms who are clearly looking to take money out of
the sector. The situation in adult social care is a stark warning
about the disastrous impact of finance-driven organisations
delivering fundamental care services.
'In a privatised system, cost cutting focuses on the workforce,
employing fewer staff at lower pay and with worse terms and
conditions which will in turn have a huge impact on the quality
of provision on offer.
'Early years workers are already scandalously undervalued, with
rock bottom pay and terms and conditions that rarely include
contractual sick pay. Low pay and severely restricted
opportunities for progression underpin the decline in
qualification levels in the sector. At the same
time, directors and shareholders of some of the largest
nursery chains are able to take handsome salaries and
dividends. This is simply unjust.
'Childcare and early years provision are a vital foundation to
greater equity and better outcomes for children. But, as this
report shows, privatisation undermines this and risks further
erosion of pay terms and conditions and the professional standing
of early years workers.
'The English system of childcare and early years provision is an
outlier in terms of the extent of privatisation as well as the
low level of overall investment. Greater regulation of the
companies and organisations involved is clearly required, but
what is also needed is significant investment and a commitment to
rebuilding our publicly funded and delivered childcare system. We
cannot leave this vital element of our education system to the
vagaries of the market."
