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  Letters: Britain at the nursery stage in early years provision |
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The wilful erosion of state nursery schools predates the present concern over the single funding formula (Cash squeeze threatens free nursery places, 3 November).
The Childcare Act 2006 has already imposed on local authorities a duty to fund pre-school education via private providers - critically undermining state nursery education.
The redistributed monies won't make much of a difference to supply when so many private nursery businesses are struggling financially.
Britain's reluctance to commit to a universal and equitably funded early-education system places it at the fringes of Europe.
If France, for example, has had free full-time (28 hours a week) nursery education for all two and a half to five-year-olds for nearly a century, what is the problem for us except ideology?Eva Lloyd and Helen PennUniversity of East London• The single funding formula was designed to reduce the imbalance and inequity of the system.
It is a step forward to ensure that private and voluntary nurseries get paid the real costs of their service.
What is unfortunate is that the funding has to be redistributed from the same pot.
As a charity and social enterprise working with many of London's poorest families, we have felt it important to access the funding of "free" places to give parents more choice.
But we have recovered only one-third of the cost of a place compared to the state sector.
Despite this our nurseries have achieved good and outstanding status and we have increased the number of graduates working within the organisation.It's also worth remembering that 87% of the 400,000 children at nursery attend private and voluntary day nurseries.
Of those, 29% are in the poorest and most deprived wards in Britain.
While nursery schools have a great part to play in the provision of education to young children, there are only 400 of these, of which 60% are based in deprived areas.June O'SullivanLondon Early Years Foundation• Since 1997 there has been unprecedented expansion of childcare places in the UK, for which the government deserve serious credit.
However, you rightly highlight the threat the new single funding formula poses to state-run nurseries, which play such a crucial role in improving the outcomes of the poorest and most vulnerable children.
As with the government's announcement that the latest extension to the free childcare entitlement will be funded by cutting tax relief on childcare vouchers, this shows that insufficient resources have been allocated for early childhood education and care.In short, too little is being stretched too far.
If the government is to meet its dual aims of using childcare to enable parents to work and improve the outcomes of the poorest children then we need a step change in the available funding.Alison Garnham Daycare TrustKate Green Child Poverty Action GroupFiona Weir Gingerbread
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