Lack of nursery teachers having an effect on children’s Pre School development
According to the charity Save the Children, over a quarter of a million of those Pre-School children who attend an independent nursery without an early years teacher are less likely to meet their expected levels of pre-school development. These children are failing to meet levels expected by the time they reach school, and this is due to the shortage of qualified nursery teachers. Do people agree with this, if so what can be done about this?
The report from Save the Children has highlighted that an extra 10,000 qualified early years staff are required to help prevent this staggering amount of children from failing. The increase in trained early years staff will enable Pre-School children to access the high-quality education they deserve. However, for many nurseries, this is easier said than done. Many nurseries struggling to pay the wages of qualified teachers, because of this there has been a drop in people applying for nursery teacher jobs.
The report shows the levels of Pre- School children’s development compared with and without a qualified nursery teacher. It is imperative that children are given the best possible start for them to reach their full potential. More needs to be done to help those nurseries who are struggling to recruit qualified teachers.
According to Save the Children there has been significant improvements in the quality of provision but more needs investing in helping independent nurseries employee qualified teachers to help prevent children from slipping through the net
The amount of people applying for qualified teacher jobs has dropped, with the combination of low pay and lack of promotion opportunities many people are reluctant to apply for these jobs.
Something needs to be done to remove these barriers and help children reach their expected levels of development.