Chamber
Plenary, 17 Nov 1999
17 Nov 1999 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
Child Care Strategy
As a parent who depended very much on the good will of my own family, my in-laws and friends, I welcome the child care strategy. There is no doubt that a more co-ordinated and consistent provision will ensure that each child has the opportunity to start school with a similar level of pre-school
experience and education—to start with the same advantage.
As Nicola Sturgeon said, the two years of pre-school should not be an extension of school. While I welcome the use of teachers in child care, there is a quite different approach to teaching reading and writing in the classroom and to the learning through play that means that children develop emotionally, socially, physically and in intellectual terms, as outlined in the curriculum framework for pre-school children. Anyone going from teaching into child care needs some form of retraining to address the differences between pre-school education and the more formal approach of school teaching.
As a lecturer in further education, I found it heartbreaking to discover people in their 20s and 30s, and even older sometimes, who at that stage found they were dyslexic. I talked to the National Autistic Society and to people experienced in working with children with learning disabilities who believe that the assessing, observing and training required in the child care strategy could be utilised for early detection of learning needs, such as dyslexia, autism and Asperger's syndrome. According to the National Autistic Society, only a small number of pre-school children get the early intervention that would identify and address those problems.
It is generally accepted that the earlier a true diagnosis is made the better for the child, the family and those around them, because effective strategies can be employed only if the true nature of a condition is known. I ask the Minister for Children and Education to ensure that the new strategy includes identification of learning difficulties so that appropriate support can be given. I have also been talking to providers of pre-school playgroups who feel that now that we have a more co-ordinated approach, with better health service links and so on, it is an ideal time to address the issue.
When we talk about all three and four-year-olds receiving child care, does that mean two years of pre-school education? That question was put to me—the Minister for Children and Education is shaking his head. I am told it can mean one year and four months. I return to Brian Monteith's point, that it is only after their child has begun pre-school education that many parents realise that the child is not mature enough to go to school at the expected time. Is there flexibility to allow the parent to retain the child in pre-school education for a further year?
experience and education—to start with the same advantage.
As Nicola Sturgeon said, the two years of pre-school should not be an extension of school. While I welcome the use of teachers in child care, there is a quite different approach to teaching reading and writing in the classroom and to the learning through play that means that children develop emotionally, socially, physically and in intellectual terms, as outlined in the curriculum framework for pre-school children. Anyone going from teaching into child care needs some form of retraining to address the differences between pre-school education and the more formal approach of school teaching.
As a lecturer in further education, I found it heartbreaking to discover people in their 20s and 30s, and even older sometimes, who at that stage found they were dyslexic. I talked to the National Autistic Society and to people experienced in working with children with learning disabilities who believe that the assessing, observing and training required in the child care strategy could be utilised for early detection of learning needs, such as dyslexia, autism and Asperger's syndrome. According to the National Autistic Society, only a small number of pre-school children get the early intervention that would identify and address those problems.
It is generally accepted that the earlier a true diagnosis is made the better for the child, the family and those around them, because effective strategies can be employed only if the true nature of a condition is known. I ask the Minister for Children and Education to ensure that the new strategy includes identification of learning difficulties so that appropriate support can be given. I have also been talking to providers of pre-school playgroups who feel that now that we have a more co-ordinated approach, with better health service links and so on, it is an ideal time to address the issue.
When we talk about all three and four-year-olds receiving child care, does that mean two years of pre-school education? That question was put to me—the Minister for Children and Education is shaking his head. I am told it can mean one year and four months. I return to Brian Monteith's point, that it is only after their child has begun pre-school education that many parents realise that the child is not mature enough to go to school at the expected time. Is there flexibility to allow the parent to retain the child in pre-school education for a further year?
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Patricia Ferguson):
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on motion S1M-285 in the name of Mr Sam Galbraith, on the Scottish Executive's child care strategy for Scotland, and an...
The Minister for Children and Education (Mr Sam Galbraith):
Lab
Thank you, Presiding Officer.I hope that we will not find too much difference among the parties in this debate; that is reflected in the amendment lodged by ...
Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP):
SNP
I welcome this afternoon's debate on the Scottish Executive's child care strategy for Scotland. The child care strategy is one of many policies that has been...
Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
Will the member give way?
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
Not just now; let me get into my stride. Early education and child care should not be a political battleground. We have a shared interest in securing for eve...
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome the tone of Nicola Sturgeon's speech and I thank her for visiting my constituency this morning. Does she realise that, as part of the national chil...
Nicola Sturgeon:
SNP
The child care tax credit is certainly a step in the right direction and some of my colleagues will mention it, but there are loopholes and weaknesses in it....
Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
I am pleased to welcome what the minister said. I see that that brings a smile to his face. I hope that he will still be smiling at the end of my short contr...
Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP):
SNP
Will the member give way?
Mr Monteith:
Con
I thought that no one was going to ask. I have been waiting for an intervention—I even wrote "intervention" on my notes—so I am glad that Fiona Hyslop has ob...
Fiona Hyslop:
SNP
The subject of free education is topical at the moment, given the issue of tuition fees. Does the Conservative education spokesperson believe in free educati...
Mr Monteith:
Con
No. The Conservatives do not believe in universal provision of free education for three and four-year-olds. However, we recognise that there must be some sta...
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
Will the member give way?
Mr Monteith:
Con
I am practically out of time, but I will give way if the intervention is relevant to my previous point.
Malcolm Chisholm:
Lab
Given that after-school clubs will be supported mainly by the child care tax credit element of the working families tax credit, how will the Conservatives' p...
Mr Monteith:
Con
As is quite clear, we intend to ensure that funding is made available for such clubs. We do not intend to introduce a system that brings in more means testin...
Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD):
LD
It is my pleasure, and my party's pleasure, to support warmly Sam Galbraith's motion. The great thing about coming fourth in the opening speeches is that one...
Mr Stone:
LD
I see the deputy minister nodding. There has been a worryingly high turnover of staff up to now, and we must fine-tune that issue. The minister has drawn the...
Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome today's announcements. Any child care strategy should be developed in the way that this strategy has been—with much input from many people. Althoug...
Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
Immediately before I became an MSP, I worked for Angus Council, helping to implement the child care strategy. Like most practitioners, I welcomed the fact th...
Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab):
Lab
There is nothing complacent about the Executive's motion, and I am sure that the Scottish National party amendment would have been accepted had it not implie...
Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP):
SNP
I thank Malcolm Chisholm for his contribution, even though he said about a quarter of the things that I wanted to say in my speech. The Scottish National par...
Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab):
Lab
I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak in the debate. Like others, I commend the Executive for pursuing the strategy of good- quality, affordable and...
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con):
Con
As a parent who depended very much on the good will of my own family, my in-laws and friends, I welcome the child care strategy. There is no doubt that a mor...
Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome the opportunity to debate the child care strategy for Scotland. For too long children have been seen as little more than passive recipients of serv...
Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
I will talk briefly about the qualifications of child care workers, and also about a more integrated approach that includes social inclusion partnerships as ...
Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD):
LD
I would like to congratulate the Executive on the progress that it has made on child care. The issue is widely supported across the parties and the Executive...
Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab):
Lab
I warmly welcome the Minister for Children and Education's statement. The new allocation for child care represents something in the order of a 140 per cent i...
Mr Monteith:
Con
I point out to Helen Eadie that, in the first year after the voucher scheme was introduced, 63,467 children attended some form of pre-school education. Only ...
Helen Eadie:
Lab
At the general election, I was a candidate in Roxburgh and Berwickshire, where I worked for 18 months to two years. I know that there was great hostility the...