THE current shortage of nursery places could become even more acute and the cost of childcare rise even higher if the government does not increase support early years education, according to sector representatives.
They warn today that rising costs mean many families can no longer afford to go out to work.
Just a day after teachers took part in a protest over pay in the Royal Square, the Jersey Early Years’ Association sent a letter to parents stating that it had come to ‘the end of the road’ in negotiations over funding for the sector.
The letter called on parents to take up the matter with their elected representatives.
Tanya Brint, of the JEYA committee, said childcare providers were ‘losing confidence in education ministers’ and in the government’s ability to understand the situation.
Meanwhile, Assistant Children’s Minister Louise Doublet said she ‘recognised that families will be looking for more immediate support’, as parents report increasing fees, wages failing to keep up with childcare costs, and having to cut back on work hours – and salaries – to cope.
Earlier this year, Deputy Doublet announced that £228,000 of support for the Nursery Education Fund – equating to up to £627 per child – would be brought forward from the autumn to summer term after discussions with JEYA.
NEF-registered nurseries received an extra one-off £82,000 payment in May.
But at a Scrutiny panel hearing last week, Children’s Minister Inna Gardiner revealed that these extra allocations had already been absorbed by inflation and had been spent ‘meeting the rise in the cost of living’.
She said that nurseries had faced a 96% rise in insurance, a 26% rise in the price of food and increases of between 45% and 63% in cleaning costs.
Mrs Brint said: ‘We were extremely disappointed that the government’s cost-of-living strategy group decided that there was currently no additional money, because they felt that supporting early-years education wouldn’t increase economic productivity in the Island.
‘We have been supportive of the government in asking our members, where possible, not to enact fee increases while they were looking at what support could be given to parents.’
She added: ‘For them to come back now and say this is the case [is hard to] understand, when they say that early-years education is important.
‘Why does the government not understand the early-years sector in the Island?’
She said that there had been cost increases in ‘everything’, adding: ‘As with any organisational business, costs are rising for food, electricity and rents. Staff wages [are also rising]. There is a staffing crisis in the early-years sector and we need to pay comparable wages to retain quality staff and be able to offer a quality service.
‘That means fees need to go up and some less-well-off families may be priced out of the market, because there aren’t enough places in the Island. Prices may rise exponentially without government support.’
Deputy Doublet has said that the provision of early childhood education and childcare is of ‘huge importance’, adding that she was aware that increasing childcare costs presented ‘another challenge for families who may already be struggling’.
‘I am keen to address what I can within my remit,’ she added.
