§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to create a standard qualification for nursery nurses. [32190]
§ Ms Estelle Morris[holding answer 2 March 1998]: There are many different qualifications in childcare and education held by staff working in the full range of early years settings. In the context of the promotion of both early education and childcare, the Government have asked the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, together with the relevant National Training Organisations, to examine the qualifications framework for the sector. It is the role of the NTOs to ensure coherence of the qualifications framework and to promote the value of qualifications in the sector.
Work is currently being undertaken to establish the range and type of qualifications held by nursery nurses. Preliminary indications are that there will be more than 798W one qualification and more than one route to achieving it. Such diversity may be necessary to ensure sufficiently broad access to qualifications.