pre-school education has criticised the Government for restricting the
30-hour offer to working families.
Co-author of the Effective Pre-School, Primary & Secondary Education (EPPSE) study, which followed 3,000 children from age three to 16, Professor Iram Siraj told Nursery World that denying the extra hours to children who live in families where parents do not work could lead to widening the gap for disadvantaged children.
'There would be an outrage if it was a school; why is it in early years that we can get away with that? Suddenly you're saying that some children will have a right to have twice as much as other children? It's illogical.'
Professor Siraj is a member of the research team of the EPPSE 3-16+ project. The longitudinal study ran from 1997 to 2014 and its evidence is often used by ministers to highlight the value of early education.
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