Whilst Early Childhood Education and Care Policy Took a Central Place Under New Labour - Essay Example

? EDUCATION By Early Years Policy and Policy Drivers Early-year policy refers to the framework that deals with how the government protects the interests of children. These policies affect few states such as England and Wales. This essay will also discuss early year’s policy in relation to cost-cutting and targeting as dominant themes in the British government. It will describe some of the Early-year policies and their drivers. It will show what made the government enact such policies and how they are implemented. The essay will also feature on the effects of policy development on various stakeholders. The national child care strategy is an initiative that helps to maintain the early years and provision of necessary services in Britain (Clark and Waller, 2007, p.20). It was established in 1998. It was set to establish sustainable childcare services for children aged between 0 and 14. It was also set to support the family of the child in a bid to give quality services. The overall objective was set to increase the number of child care facilities and vacancies in education. Today, the national child care strategy is coordinated by Department of education and Employment. The strategy gives the best funding to children, to ensure they get quality education, healthcare and childcare. The Training and Enterprise councils are responsible for children’s education with the support of local enterprises. The establishment of English Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships (EYDCPs) as the major organ to implement the national child strategy was the key aim of the program. The EYDP’s main focus is on expanding the avenues in which childcare is easily accessible. The stakeholders that partner with the EYDCPs include local authorities, parents, outside school clubs, churches and employers. They submit their annual audits and plans, to the Department of Education and Employment to be granted approval. Within its first five years, there was a successful attempt to provide affordable childcare services to all children. The main policy drivers for National Child care strategy involve raising the standards of each child’s education. The strategy was also aimed at reducing the level of poverty. There are a few things that determine how the policy works and these are aspects such as easy access and identification of disadvantaged families (Anning, 2005, p.20). The program also depends on both the community population and poverty level. Both must attain specific standards for the policy to be implemented. It also benefits the disabled children and those with special needs. Additionally, the strategy also provides each community with equal opportunities. It was updated in 2004 and during this same year there was an expansion of the childcare facilities to 1.8 million. By the year 2006, child care centers were two million. The policy had an average budget of 400 million pounds in the years 2001 to 2004 and these were increased by 770 million pound in the year 2008 (Cohen, Moss, Petrie, and Wallace, 2004, p. 10). Recently, the project has been boosted in terms of fund sources, which include recruitment campaign, grants and neighborhood nurseries. Each source boosts different areas which include recruitment of more childcare service employees to buy new equipment for the local authorities, which fall under 20% of the most deprived wards. The funds so far have been allocated to projects which improve childcare. Recruitment campaign will provide funds for recruiting professionals who give advice to childcare providers (Waller, 2009, p.65). Every Child Matters (ECM) is a policy that was established in the year 2004 in form of a green paper. The policy was enacted after the Children’s Act in the year 2004. It was set to ensure there was a better outcome on its five aims which are essential aspects in growth of children between 1-19 years. The five principles of the policy are regarded as the pillars of child development. It gives emphasis on the health of a child, his or her safety, enjoying and achieving in their childhood and advancing economically. The policy involves people who usually work with children. They include hospitals, social workers, teachers, foster parents and children’s homes. The various stakeholders come together and discuss ways in which they can help children and young adults. The policy also provides a forum in which children discuss their problems. These areas in the past have been ignored by stakeholders. At the local level there are 150 programs that are steered by local authorities and other partners. For this to be achieved there has to be government intervention, sports centers and the general community. The policy driver for enacting this Act and strategy was to raise the education standards and integrated working. The policy is implemented by the stakeholders as mentioned above. It is a way of promoting collective responsibility for the success of children. In the year 2004, the policy was used to reinforce the accountability of Children’s Act. The main objective of every child matters is to incorporate early intervention in regard to ensuring the success of a child based on a solid foundation. The other aim is providing integrated services for children to ensure they develop in all areas. Lastly it also aims at sharing of information among the various stakeholders. The Children’s Act of 2004 was enacted to make sure there was accountability in the children services department. It would increase the opportunities for children and safeguard them. It had six parts which had 69 subsections. The sections were enacted between the months of November 2004 and April 2006. The children Act of 2004 made a provision that would see the establishment of the children’s commissioner (Fitzgerald, and Kay, 2008, p. 56). The commissioner would be charged with the responsibility of overseeing the provision of services for children and the youth. It would also provide advice on support services which are useful to the family setting. These include foster care, day care and child minding services. Other support services included identification of families that would benefit from grants and the safety of children. During the same year of enactment, the office of the commissioner would take into account the views of people working with children. The office would also look into complains lodged by children and conducting research in matters relating to children. The findings of the research would be documented and presented to come up with the best resolutions and policies. There was a campaign lodged to make children aware of the commissioner’s office existence. They would be taught on how to communicate with the office to be given assistance. The office would also oversee the incorporation of people who worked with children when making policies. This act forms a major source of every child matters. This was a major boost to the provision of better services to children. The safety of children’s background and future were the major things that prompted the enactment of the Act. The policy driver for children’s Act was to ensure that the children were provided with an avenue to express themselves (Brannen and Moos, 2003, p.13). The Ten Year Child Care policy is one that was driven by eliminating child poverty. It was introduced in the year 2004 as a budget that would see the improvement of key services that included childcare for children under the age of fourteen. Today, reforms are being undertaken which are likely to see the free nursery learning for children aged three and four. The number of childcare facilities is also likely to be increased so as to cater for more children. The policy will also see the elongation of maternity leave for the mother and father of the child. All these strategies are to be achieved between specified periods of time. The parents are likely to benefit from children tax credit when they had specified qualifications which include parents working for 16 hours per week. These are form of subsidies granted to parents to facilitate their child’s education. This policy was driven by the need to provide equality. In the earlier years children from poor background would be able to access quality pre-school education (Henricson, 2012, p.45). Another key driver of the policy was to improve overall efficiency in educating children in the society. The intention of the ten year strategy was to promote family support, child care, more information and quality of the child’s life. Under each of these objectives there are other sections with finer details about the policy. Under family support they would ensure that the children centre’s avail information on ways in which the family can be assisted. There would be a provision where the parents working hours would be reduced to facilitate their stay with their children who were under sixteen years. Children centers would be established under a solid background and would ensure that childcare was a universal right for children. This would also make their accessibility easier. The policy would give the local authorities funds to set up family intervention community based projects. Under the child care objective the funds would be used to set up institutions that would offer elementary education to children in the two years bracket. The centres would provide a ten hour free care programs per day for a total of 38 weeks in a year. This would be extended with the parent’s instructions. This project would cost 75 million pounds. The parents had a choice to spend the free hours when their kids were two or would transfer the free hours to their kids when they reached four years. The policy required that the teachers that were involved with the children have at least a level three qualification by the year 2015. The policy would oversee the tapping of more resources in terms of undergraduates before they graduated to work in the centers. They would also work with other partners to establish and develop the degree courses to be undertaken in the early childhood studies. The information objective was to ensure that parents were enlightened on the issue covered in the policy. Other information that would be provided included the staff qualifications and opening hours of the various centers. The families would be supported financially by paying the childcare costs. The support would be subject to the disability or the amount of tax credits given to the parents (Bagley, 2004, p.600). Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is a framework set by the government that sets the standards that the early year’s tutors have to adhere to. The standards ensure that the tutors are efficient and the children are able to gain skills without being hindered by certain factors. It is a framework that ensures that the children get the right education foundation. The framework was established in the year 2012 to gain effect by September in the same year. The EYFS is the core document that guides all the professionals working in the early year’s development. The policy has been reviewed over the years and it will reduce on the bureaucracy that surrounds elementary school teaching and focus more on how children benefit. The policy will also reduce the number of goals a child is expected to accomplish in elementary school. The policy will establish a better understanding between children’s parents and their teachers. A child’s weak areas will also be established and corrective action taken to ensure the child’s success. The policy driver behind this policy was to establish a better standard of learning and enhance integrated working system. The policy will ensure there is provision of food to children and also ensure the health of the child for better development (Loyd and Pen 2012, p.12). The human brain is said to grow faster when a child is in his or her earlier years. The child’s experiences during the first years of his life can determine their success. Providing quality upbringing for the child is one of the ways of ensuring they are successful in their later years. The early childhood policies were established to make the best out of a child to ensure they excel. These policies have different aims of which all contribute to a better growth of the child. The various policies enacted have had different effects on the different people (Pugh and Duffy 2010, p.15). The contribution made by the various policies has affected the child positively. A provision of health and social services enables a child to grow properly in all the social aspects. Being healthy and having confidence in themselves will help the children in not only the social aspects, but also physically. This is inclusive of sports and helping children realize their full potential ensures there is a more productive workforce in the society. Access to equal opportunities despite a child’s economical background will ensure there is equality in the society (Brannen and Moos, p.20). The parents are assured that despite the institution they take their child, the child will receive high quality education. They are also able to go to work with the knowledge that their children are safe back in the day care centres. They are able to prosper economically due to the tax credits they are given. On the other hand the parents may feel that the rights are being curtailed with a laid out plan for their children’s education. They may feel that their right to choose the kind of education to give to their children is being taken away from them. With these changes in the policy, every child care institution run by parents will be rendered out of business (Anning, 2005, p.40). The programs carried out by the policies are distributed among all communities. This goes a long way in establishing an equal distribution of resources. The communities’ participation through the partnerships brings about a sense of responsibility. The success of a policy relies on its execution and involving all stakeholders ensures that this is done. Achievements seen through these policies and benefits are not enjoyed by the parents only, but also the community at large. The communities are able to bring people together as citizens among people. From a political point of view, the policies have been a subject of debate. Political parties have different ideas on how policies are drawn. The coalition government for example proposed amendments on the National care strategy. There are rumors that the policy has been scrapped in total. The budgets of implementing the policies have also been a subject of debate. Frequent amendments to the policies are also done in a bid to make them more suitable. Laws have been enacted to ensure there is accountability when implementing the policies and that the public funding is being used appropriately. The politicians and those who make these policies may not live to see the results. The conviction that they are likely to bring, about a better future, makes them examples of how people should embrace development wit hope (Bagley, 2004, p.602). Socially there are those who feel that these policies are beneficial to children. They see it as a way of ensuring that a child’s development is of high quality and is a birthright that should not be subject to the parent’s financial status. Some people term the institutionalized policies as avenues for eroding the family function. They argue that the support services take up the role of parents and thus should be abolished. Parents are able to go to work with the knowledge that their children are being taken care of (Pugh and Duffy, 2010, p.16). Children are able to access free education if they can afford private education. The media avenues have established a key trend in the 21st century. It is evident that there is great value for early childhood development strategies. Early childhood education has been a constant feature in the magazines and other print forms (Anning and Ball, 2008, p.36). The magazines are talking about the issues concerning childhood developments and the various policies that are being formulated to achieve a better future. They all agree that proper childhood policies need to be implemented to achieve a better society in the future. Numerous researches have been done on personal development since childhood. The research has been done in respect to some avenues that affect children and their abilities. These avenues include development of children since childhood into being an adult. The other area where research is being carried out on is the behavior across a cross-sectional group. For example, reading habits of five year old children. Researchers have been keen to show the role of children from different backgrounds such as cultures. This research has been the basis of formulating the policies. With the guided policies, then the policy makers are sure to have results for their work (Waller, 2009, p. 70). Professionals and academics on the other hand have their views in regard to developed policies. Professionals argue that childhood is a stage where a child should be allowed to play and be free. They are opposed to having children undergo defined curriculum and set activities. They argue that a child has the right to enjoy the present. Politicians and policy formulators develop this curriculum with the aim of having a productive workforce. The professionals argue that this is contrary to a child’s interest at their early age. They also argue that the freedom of the parent to educate their child in accordance with their own philosophies. There are more job opportunities for the professionals as the policies are being implemented. The teachers also benefit from programs that advice them on how to deal with children. In a review done by researchers, there has been an improvement on the outcomes of a child’s ability. The introduction and implementation of the EYFS has managed to provide a high quality environment for the children in preschools. The current system of EFYS requires the instructors to fill out different forms that are used to gauge the efficiency of teachers. Children undergo a test and their results are usually measured on a certain scale. The skills that the child has to acquire are many and they need to be reduced. Children who were introduced to reading at a tender age seem to develop a problem of interest in reading, in later years. Additionally, teachers also felt that their questions left out important information that is useful in deciding the ability of a child. The parents were recorded as not having received a report on their child’s performance after completion of the EYFS. Part of the recommendations that were made by the experts was to make sure the parents were up to date with the performance of a child. There are no clear guidelines as to the amount of paperwork the teacher should fill in. The bureaucracies that surround most processes were eliminated. Hence, this ensured the teachers were more efficient and that children would benefit from the program fully. These are some of the inadequacies in the policies. The program has registered 80% efficiency and this will improve when the recommendations are incorporated (Clark and Waller, 2007, p. 67). The review also recommended development in three key areas in a child’s development. These include social, personal and the emotional development. The childhood policies over the years are more inclined to market oriented solutions and not based on children welfare. In recent years, this has changed with the present and previous government. The British government is set to reduce child poverty and reduce the social inequality (Dalli, and Urban, 2010, p.20). There has been increased commitment to the establishment and implementation of the childcare policies. The policies have been as a result of the Acts of parliament (Brannen and Moss, 2003, p. 30). Every Child Matters (ECM) is a policy formulated out of the Children’s Act of 2004. The EYFS is the policy which heavily burrows from the Children’s Act of 2006. The coalition government established in May 2010 has set to establish some changes to the policy Every Child matters. The department for children, schools and Families will be regarded as department of education. The reforms will see the radical change in the in the centre’s and schools. The government has plans of reducing the amount of money spent on the school building programs in the policy. According to Brannen and Moss (2003, p. 32) policies that have been developed are related in the fact that their aim is to ensure the children show better results in the five basic outcomes. These include being safe, healthy, enjoying and achieving, economic advancements. The various policies ensure that these outcomes are achieved by providing finer details on how to achieve the outcomes. The coalition government is setting its finance plans for the next five years. One of the aims of the planning is to cut out its public expenditure by 81 million pounds. The areas that will be protected by finance cuts include the department of education and NFS. These two sectors will receive additional funds that will grow at 0.1 and 0.4 percent per annum respectively. The education mentainance allowance that was previously for the college student aged 16-18 from poor background will be reduced by the year 2012 (Fawcett, Featherstone, and Goddard, 2004, p.15). It will reduce the expenditure from 560 million to 180 million pounds. This will leave the fate of these students in a worse situation than it was. The coalition government also seeks to disintegrate the relationship that existed between the local authorities and the public schools. This is in a bid to give the schools and teachers much more independence and improve the quality of education. The role of the children’s commissioner will be retained. These are changes that the coalition government wants to implement. Bibliography Anning, A. (2005) ‘Investigating the impact of working in multi-agency service delivery settings on early years practitioners’ beliefs and practices’, Journal of Early Childhood Research, 3(1), pp.19-50. Anning, A. and Ball, M. (2008) Improving services for young children: From a sure start to children’s centers. London: Sage. Bagley, C., Ackerley, C. and Rattray, J. (2004) ‘Social exclusion, Sure Start and organizational social capital: evaluating inter-disciplinary multi-agency working in an education and health work program’, Journal of Education Policy, 19(5), pp.596-607. Ball, S. and Vincent, C. 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Henricson, C. (2012) A revolution in family policy: where should we go from here? Bristol: Policy Press. Lloyd, E. and Penn, H. (2012). Childcare markets: can they deliver an equitable service. Bristol: Policy Press. Pugh, G. and Duffy, B. (2010). Contemporary issues in the early years. 5th ed. London: Sage. Waller, T. (2009) ‘International perspectives’, in Waller, T. (ed.) An Introduction to early childhood. 2nd ed. p.63-79. Read More