National standards on childcare

The need to focus on quality provisions, education, coherence and investment to the benefit of pre-school children and their families has long been overdue.

Research has proved over and over again that the rate of return on investment in the early years is higher than the rate of return at any other level of the education system. So the decision to focus on early years is indeed welcomed as long as these provisions address the care and education of all children from birth to eight years. This means that because of its very nature, early childhood care and education should mainly be the concern of the Ministry of Education working in collaboration with all the other national agencies that cater for the well-being of children and their families especially family welfare, early intervention and health services.

This integrated approach, adopted by most European countries, can be successful when specialists in the care and education of young children come together and initiate a national debate on what a coherent early childhood policy should look like and undertake a national consultation with stakeholders including parents/guardians, practitioners, teachers, trainers, providers, policy developers, employers etc. at all stages so that suggestions are relevant and owned by those who will be directly using them and benefiting from them.

Adults working with young children need to have a recognised certification that reflects the current research on child development and learning. At present, people interested in the area have to resort to a foreign university to extend their qualifications. Relevant local research needs to be encouraged. Will the reforms address the training, qualifications and position of the kindergarten assistants? There's plenty of experience there but very little qualification to show for it. Training will ensure a body of experienced professionals who will be able to support the changes in their own nursery or kindergarten.

The consultation document that was issued on the topic referred to "assessors". Are these qualified early years educators or are they only concerned with health and safety issues? For, if so, we are some 50 years away from the modern approach to quality early years care and education. One hopes that this body will take an evaluative and advisory role to better support change and the raising of quality. In this respect the personnel supplying the support have to have wide experience and qualifications of working with very young children. Their role will then be to suggest improvements in early years practice and policy. They need to involve themselves in discussions, planning and evaluating reflective practice and the development of self-evaluating tools. These professionals should be readily available for consultation and guidance.

We need to define the meaning and implications of quality. For most parents quality is safe and attractive surroundings. This is far from the truth for safety and attractive surroundings are but basic standards, a fraction of the whole issue. Quality needs to be embedded in a common set of understandings and has to be defined both by the working group and redefined after consultation with stakeholders.

One important aspect of quality is how the nursery or centre views the way children learn and relate to an environment that complements and supports the home, that encourages children to make choices and takes responsibility for these choices.

Children are born learners and the new provisions could be a golden opportunity to start perceiving children as learners and constructors of their own learning. It can nurture a culture of respect for very young children. It can be an important initiation into positive learning attitudes. It can support emergent literacy and thinking skills. It can initiate children into social skills. It can change the way Maltese adults relate to very young children because the way children feel about themselves is learnt. We need to see little children as competent.

Positive action to promote a positive identity should be the guiding light and be incorporated in the curriculum. The draft proposal encourages nurseries to draw up their own curriculum. This can lead to a "too-early-too-soon" approach to the detriment of young children. Respectful assessments, recording achievement and progress and support for further learning should instead be the focus. Failure to focus on the educational aspect will result in a baby-sitting service where children spend their time watching videos or indulging in repetitive closed activities.

The consultation document referred to the services as being accessible and suitable to everyone who needs them. Yet, they will not be available to parents who cannot pay. What about disabled children who need a one-to-one facilitator? Can the centre refuse such children?

Can we take up the challenge of providing an overall framework for an integrated and coherent early childhood policy? Will we look back in 20 years' time and like what we see? Our children deserve it and it will make a difference.