Childcare ‘should be means-tested’

Thursday 22nd July 2004, 12:00AM BST.

CHILDCARE and early years schooling should be means-tested with poorer Islanders paying less or even nothing, a leading independent education expert has found.

Jenny Spratt, the head of early years and childcare in Peterborough, makes a series of recommen- dations in the ‘Vision for the Future of Early Education and Child- care in Jersey’, out today.

She issues a stark warning that a failure to provide adequate, affordable and accessible childcare is likely to lead to rich and poor children being segregated and working mothers losing out in the workplace.

And she cites research which argues that poor-quality group childcare leads to above-average cases of antisocial and ‘worried’ behaviour, whereas a good service promotes higher learning achievement and more socially rounded individuals.

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