Free nursery education in the spotlight

Last December, the Education Minister, Senator Mike Vibert, put forward proposals to provide 20 hours of free nursery education a week for 38 weeks a year for all three- and four-year-olds. It will cost £1.5 million a year. The Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny panel, chaired by Deputy Bob Hill, will now undertake a review of the proposal to assess the potential impact of its implementation. Deputy Hill said he expects the review to take around six months. ‘Education have a vision to provide all children with free nursery education,’ he said. ‘It is not a statute requirement. Depending on where parents live it is down to luck whether there is a school nearby with free nursery provisions. ‘This affects many children, right across the board. It is a bit of a lottery at the moment, as some parents have no option for their children to have free nursery education. There is an inequality of access, which is a bit of a concern.’