Cuts in funding for childcare students have prompted one provider to focus on management training instead, suggesting that Government policy is having the opposite effect of its stated aim of raising the numbers of trained childcarers.
Elizabeth Boyd, managing director of the Berkshire-based Chiltern Training, said last week that it is now concentrating on teaching childcare management 'because the money's dropped for childcare'. She said, 'You need as many qualified childcare workers out there as humanly possible, but if the Government won't pay for it there's not a lot you can do about it.'
Under the old regime, a trainee aged 19 or over taking a Modern Apprenticeship would cover both NVQ 2 and NVQ 3 over two to three years and would have received funding of around 5,000 to 6,000. But when the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) took over from the Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) and the Further Education Funding Council in April, the money available for the new advanced Modern Apprenticeship dropped to just 2,730, covering only 18 months, and students were expected to go straight into NVQ 3 without taking NVQ 2 first. Alternatively, they could take a foundation Modern Apprenticeship (formerly national traineeship) and aim for NVQ 2.
Ms Boyd said, 'The biggest teething problem with the LSC is that it has slashed the childcare money dramatically. We no longer train as many 19-year-olds because it's not worth it.'
There is a general feeling among childcare training providers that the old funding arrangements worked well and have been replaced by a system which has not been well thought- out in advance, though it may prove effective in the long run. Glen Mardell, finance and contract director of Smart Training, said, 'It is improving. I think the main feeling is annoyance that they didn't give it another six months' preparation.'
Chris Pritchard, director of the Surrey-based JACE Training, said she regretted that the LSC had not provided a general initial assessment form from the beginning. This had meant that JACE was continuing to use individual training plan documentation from the days of the TECs, even though this was no longer appropriate.
She added, 'We need a steering group with representatives from the Early Years NTO, the LSC, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Department for Education and Skills, trainers and employers to get feedback from the grassroots and look at ways forward.'
A spokesperson for the LSC said, 'The LSC recognises the importance of childcare courses and that it is important for women who want to work to have access to good quality childcare facilities.
'Training providers have generally welcomed the introduction of national rates for Modern Apprenticeships to replace the wide disparities in rates from the 71 TECs.
'The LSC is working very hard to overcome some inevitable teething problems which were experienced by some training providers during the transition period. We are monitoring the rates based on current information about every trainee funded in the first few months and there will be a review in 2002/03.'
Under the new system, training providers are paid on their predictions of their achievement levels at the start of a four-month period, and at the end of this time the actual achievement is compared with the forecast and providers repay any excess cash. Mr Mardell said he was due to receive figures for the first three months from the LSC this week.
He added, 'Under the old system, every month I used to put in a bill and they'd pay me what we agreed on. At the moment I'm getting quite large sums of money and trying to guess what I think I have actually earned. Everybody has been running blind for the past three months. We'll see how it works in time.'
OVERMATTER Mr Mardell also pointed out that local branches had not been given enough guidance from the beginning, so many had gone their own way - 'though it's supposed to be one big seamless organisation'.
Chris Pritchard - 'It's a massive change, and of course there have been problems, but I think we have to be patient and everybody's trying very hard.
