Let's put change on the cards
Wednesday, June 5, 2002
Is it just me, or does Ofsted appear to be tangling itself up in a web of paperwork (News, 16 May)? I don't understand why it can't just register all childcarers in England and issue them with a credit card-style licence (showing a photograph) and a pin number. Employers could then simply call up their Ofsted regional centre to do a check, quoting the licence number and asking the employee for their pin number. The centre could check with Ofsted's national database and confirm the 'licensed' childcare workers over the telephone - and it could even confirm their qualifications.
I don't understand why it can't just register all childcarers in England and issue them with a credit card-style licence (showing a photograph) and a pin number. Employers could then simply call up their Ofsted regional centre to do a check, quoting the licence number and asking the employee for their pin number. The centre could check with Ofsted's national database and confirm the 'licensed' childcare workers over the telephone - and it could even confirm their qualifications.
Can you imagine having your newly-recruited staff checked and verified in five minutes? What a dream. But I know this is possible, as nurses have a similar system.
If Ofsted paid me enough money I'm sure I could even come up with a simple database along these lines that would save the repetitive police checks. Sometimes the simple ideas are the best.
Sally Brown. Norfolk
