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Transforming and Investing in the Early Years Workforce

Published on: 10/03/2010

In light of the imminent release of the Northern Ireland 0-6 Strategy, Siobhan Fitzpatrick, chief executive of Early Years - the organisation for young children, calls for government to invest in the development of the workforce.

"The first six years of a child's life are crucial in terms of their social and cognitive development, ironically however this is the time when the least funding is made available"
James Heckman, Nobel Laureate for Economics

In order for the Northern Ireland government to develop the educational attainment, economic productivity and public health of its population, it needs a significant programme of investment in young children aged 0-6 years. Science, including economics, all point to early childhood as a critical and sensitive period in human development. The Nobel Laureate, Prof James Heckman confirms not only the social desirability, but also the economic prudence of such an investment programme, where he found that every £1 invested yielded a return of £7.

Prof Heckman's research shows that learning starts in infancy, and in the early years basic abilities can be altered. Prof Heckman also states that society can make a bigger difference and have more of an impact with younger children because the skills they learn in the very early years set a pattern for acquiring life skills later.

His work in analysing the cost benefit of investment in early years provides the Northern Ireland government with a clear roadmap to develop its own early years strategy. While identifying the need for investment in early years, Prof Heckman's research also cautions against the risk of endorsing very superficial programs. Therefore the skills and qualifications of adults working with young children are identified as a key predictor of children's development.

Research from many countries has also shown that in order to ensure that early years interventions and programmes are of a high enough quality to stimulate a child's cognitive, social and personal development, the early years sector requires adequate training and fair working conditions for staff.

Current thinking and practice in relation to early childhood workforce training and development in Northern Ireland is disjointed, with a traditional teacher-focused academic route available for some and a vocational route for others. What the Northern Ireland early years sector would like to see is a new approach being taken, encompassing a relevant accreditation to degree level based on the concept of the social pedagogy. This will enable staff to work primarily with children aged 0-6 years, but will provide skills for work with youth, elderly and children/adults with learning disabilities. Early Years would also like to see an apprenticeship programme being developed that aims to develop leadership and management skills in the early years sector.

The early years sector therefore calls for an investment in a 'Transformation Fund' of £5m per year over five years to support the development of its workforce up to graduate level. In Northern Ireland, there is no training and development strategy for people working with young children, while in England and Wales, £200m was allocated for this type of training. In order to recruit and retain high calibre staff, it is critically important that this disparity is addressed so all staff feel valued.

This will bring Northern Ireland in line with the UK and most of Europe, where it is now policy that adults who work with young children aged 0-6 years are trained to graduate level and remunerated appropriately for the work they do.

Early Years strongly believes that a properly remunerated, graduate-led workforce will improve the quality of the care and education our children receive and that this investment in the future of our children will reap financial and educational benefits for children throughout their lives.

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