PARENTS, toddlers and nursery staff will stage a demonstration in the Royal Square tomorrow morning to urge States Members to back free nursery proposals.

It will be held prior to the States sitting in which members will decide whether or not to back Education Minister Mike Vibert’s Business Plan amendment to extend free nursery care to all three- and four-year-olds in the Island. The proposals call for an additional £600,000 of spending in 2008 and an additional £1.5 million every year after that. Senator Vibert says that if the proposals are approved it will stop the ‘lottery’ of free nursery care that allows half of Jersey children to get free nursery places, replacing it with a system guaranteeing 20 hours of free care per week for all children of this age in school term time. Islanders wanting to see an end to Jersey’s ‘postcode lottery’ system are being invited to attend the demonstration. Parents and toddlers, as well as practitioners and some nursery classes, are expected to attend, armed with placards and banners. At the protest, a petition will also be handed to chief Minister, Senator Frank Walker.