Nursery World - New cash will help more staff qualify

Alocal authority's innovative new programme will fund childcarers from all sectors to take SVQs in a bid to raise the levels of qualified staff. The two-year scheme follows an audit by Dumfries and Galloway Council which found low levels of qualification. The council's childcare development officer Neil Carruthers said the decision had been prompted in part by forthcoming changes to regulation. The Scottish Executive intends to set qualification standards for childcare workers 'in due course', though it is not yet known when these standards will be set or what they will be.

The two-year scheme follows an audit by Dumfries and Galloway Council which found low levels of qualification. The council's childcare development officer Neil Carruthers said the decision had been prompted in part by forthcoming changes to regulation. The Scottish Executive intends to set qualification standards for childcare workers 'in due course', though it is not yet known when these standards will be set or what they will be.

'The programme is aimed at all childcare workers, including childminders, private sector nurseries, out-of-school care and pre-school education providers,' Mr Carruthers said. 'We will focus on SVQ2 and SVQ3, as we found these were the qualifications most childcarers wanted, and fund about two-thirds of the cost.'

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