Education has 'listened with fingers in their ears'
EDUCATION has 'listened with fingers in their ears', with regards to counter-proposals for free education for three- and four-year-olds, according to the chair of the Pre-School Learning Association.
Anne Liu, pictured, re-iterated colleagues' fears that Education, Sport & Culture's scheme offering 15 hours of free pre-school education, which will take effect in January, would have 'big repercussions' with regards to administration.
The association's counter-proposal would give parents a £5 voucher to be used at their chosen provider, and the 90p would be put into a 'catch' fund, so if a child needed extra support or unexpected circumstances arose, the fund could be used to help.
If parents chose a provider that cost more than £5, they would pay the difference.
'That would have worked for everybody,' said Mrs Liu
From January, three- and four-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours of free pre-school education per week across 38 weeks a year – term-time only – in the year before they start school.
