EYPs press for career help
Early Years Professionals should be subsidised to ensure they have decent wages and career development, the trade union representing EYPs has told the Government.
Members of the EYP section of Aspect have had meetings with the Children's Workforce Development Council and the DCSF to discuss pay and conditions. The union, which has 200 EYP members, has produced two papers - one for the CWDC outlining principles for continuing professional development (CPD), and one for the DCSF with ideas for a national pay and conditions framework.
John Chowcat, Aspect general secretary, said after the meetings, 'There should be a national register and a Government agency taking responsibility for monitoring EYP pay and conditions. We propose a central Government financial subsidy for settings that need support applying the pay framework.'
Rosie Bloomfield, an EYP working in the voluntary sector and chair of the EYP national committee, who also attended, said, 'I got involved because the majority of EYPs feel that it is a great qualification but there's nowhere to go with it. EYPs want CPD, but the money isn't there in the PVI sector. My setting is run as a charity, and you're not going to hold on to Level 6 people if you're paying them peanuts. Qualified teachers are subsidised in their first year and EYP status is equivalent.'
Aspect's paper to the CWDC stressed a need for entitlement to training beyond EYP status, and suggested introducing a self-evaluation process and individual CPD folders to create a personal profile of all EYPs. Mr Chowcat said a national scheme using these tools to monitor and ensure EYPs' further development was crucial to creating enough EYPs to meet the Government's targets.
Further information: www.aspect.org.uk.
