Valuing expertise

As the manager of a pre-school and a qualified teacher in post-16 and adult education, I think the statement by the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education Project - that 'children make more progress at settings where there are trained teachers' ('Educated guess?', 22 January) - devalues the import- ance of early years practitioners. What message does this give to students and to the qualified and dedicated practitioners currently running pre-schools? Early years practitioners strive to gain the professional recognition and respect they deserve. One way they do this is to achieve qualified status.