Childcare expansion plans underway

A huge increase in childcare training places has been announced to help deliver the additional workforce required for the transformation of early learning and childcare in Scotland.  The new training places are being made available in colleges and universities across Scotland in 2018/19.

The annual letter of guidance issued earlier this week to the Scottish Funding Council highlighted the need to have a well-trained and diverse workforce to support children’s early learning and childcare.

Minister for Childcare and Early Years Maree Todd, said:

“The near doubling of funded Early Learning and Childcare to ensure all children get the best possible start in life is a key priority for this Government. Expansion plans are now well underway to deliver this ambitious policy. In the coming year, the number of places for people to train in early learning qualifications at colleges and universities will significantly increase. Our colleges and universities attract talent from all over Scotland and have a key role to play to ensure that expanded early learning and childcare is delivered to the highest quality.  

“We know that the earliest years of life are crucial in every child’s life, and the evidence tells us that if our early learning and childcare offer is to help give children the best start in life and contribute to closing the poverty-related attainment gap, it has to be of high quality. That is why we are determined to create a highly skilled, diverse and dedicated workforce, to ensure that quality is at the heart of our expansion plans.” 

Background

This increased provision of Early Learning and Childcare courses is a key aspect of our national recruitment campaign which seeks to attract people from a diverse range of backgrounds to pursue a career in the sector.  The website provides helpful information on how to pursue training and work opportunities in this area.

The expansion of ELC is a key policy for the Scottish Government. Building on the increase in provision of training places over the previous academic year, a further increase in provision to support the expansion is sought for the 18/19 academic year.

Specifically, we are seeking to train an additional 1,813 new starts for HNC college and university (through UHI) courses to train at practitioner level in the sector. We are also seeking an additional 490 places at managerial level. Those will be split between 388 BA Childhood Practice places  at universities and 102 PDA places at colleges.

This compares to an additional 650 practitioner level HNC courses and 350 managerial level courses (270 BA Childhood Practice and 80 PDAs) in 17/18

Further information on the Scottish Government’s Letter of Guidance 2018-19 to the Scottish Funding Council can be found online.