30hrs free childcare could widen the attainment gap
According to a report, the 30hrs free childcare could widen the attainment gap when children start school. The new scheme that is being introduced in September 2017 may mean that a proportion of children will end up losing out on high-quality care. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds will be the ones that will lose out on receiving high-quality care. When in fact these are the children the scheme should be targeting.
By providing working families with the extra increased hours will mean a demand for childcare places, leaving fewer spaces available for vulnerable two-year-olds who also qualify for free places. The increase in hours from 15 to 30 will squeeze two years old out of nurseries.
With a strain on underfunding and fewer childcare spaces available, it could have a detrimental effect on all children receiving quality care, leaving some children receiving poor quality care. For children to thrive in their development and help close the attainment gap children should be receiving high high-quality before starting school.
According to the report, it says ” The existing free entitlement does not necessarily offer the level of quality that would be required for the attainment gap to be reduced substantially…
From Septemeber 2016 8 county’s are piloting the scheme, with the rest following next Septemeber. With the inadequate funding rates being offered to nurseries this is a reason why many nurseries are struggling to even offer the scheme and other settings having to substitute the costs themselves.
Has this 30hrs free childcare scheme really been thought through properly?