UK parents in favour of plans for an Early Years Register

Whilst we in Northern Ireland still wait in hope for a long overdue childcare strategy, a professional register for the Early Years sector is among plans recently outlined in the UK Government’s Best Start in Life Strategy.

The ‘Early Years sector’ is an overarching term that includes settings like nurseries, childminders, preschools, and school reception classes, which deliver learning, care, and development of children from birth up to age five.

Research from the Early Education and Childcare Coalition shows that 84% of parents of under-fives would support the introduction of a professional register for early years staff, similar to that which already exists for teaching.  Sector representatives have welcomed the plans saying a register could help establish clear expectations of professional standards, including continuous professional development, and fair pay aligned with education. However, many stressed that it must be more than just names on a list and must be inclusive of the whole sector. It is not clear at this stage who will be involved in creating the register or how the sector will be asked to contribute.

The Early Years Alliance is keen to understand how a professional register will work in practice, and how any potential costs or administrative burden for providers would be minimised. Chief Executive Neil Leitch believes that a register could only ever be one part of a much bigger workforce strategy.

Helen Donohoe, head of Coram PACEY, would push for full inclusion of the childminder and nanny perspective as the register is developed to ensure inclusion of the entire early years workforce.

The Deputy Head of the Pen Green Centre in Corby, Fliss Dewsbery, feels said that a professional register will counter widely held, long standing perceptions of early years as being ‘lesser’ work.

June O’Sullivan, an Irish author with expertise in social enterprise and child poverty, has been the Chief Executive of the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) for 20 years. She is clear that a national register should reflect qualifications, ongoing professional development, experience and a commitment to a clear code of ethics.

Like many others in the sector, she thinks the professionalism, dedication and expertise of early years teachers and educators has been undervalued and overlooked. LEYF already refer to their staff as teachers, and June believes referring to them merely as practitioners diminishes the skill, knowledge and pedagogical practice they bring to their role every day.

For many, a national register is an important step towards giving Early Years educators the recognition they deserve, and there is a hope that it could help to elevate the status of profession and support career progression. More broadly, it could help society to understand the value and professionalism of the people helping to educate our young children.