Pre-school owners welcome Education's change of heart
REVISIONS to pre-school entitlement plans have been greeted with enthusiasm by private providers, who said Education had given them 'renewed hope after all their hopes had been dashed'.
Education, Sport & Culture president Deputy Paul Le Pelley this week announced his committee's intentions to revise plans for 15 hours-worth of free entitlement at a flat rate of £5.90 per hour.
The proposed change will allow providers to charge top-up fees to parents from a flat hourly entitlement of £5.
Monkey Puzzle owner Caroline Blondel, pictured, said she was delighted by the committee's commitment to providing pre-schools with the best possible solutions for both providers and parents.
'We are excited to be able to introduce the scheme as it is the fruition of a lot of hard work,' she said. 'As private providers we have total confidence in and are grateful to the committee for taking the time to move things forward.
'We had encountered a huge problem with the decision to produce a flat rate with no consultation as such.
'We had a rough ride and this board said they would review the decision. They have given us renewed hope after all our hopes had been dashed.'
Anna Thompson, owner of Rainbow Childcare, said the revised proposals were consistent with what they had been working towards for years.
'The board has listened to the people, to the working parent, and this provides the best option all round,' she said.
'We have been so impressed with the new board and devastated that their support of us has been manipulated as though it is a negative thing.'
