Shocking fall in number of nursery teachers casts doubt on SNP's commitment to expanding childcare – Scotsman comment

There were 1,386 nursery teachers in Scotland in 2012; last year there were just 734

Nursery education is important for children as well as working parents (Picture: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

The SNP has made much of its commitment to free childcare. And so, when Humza Yousaf pledged to expand free provision for children aged one and two, it was in keeping with his party’s consistent stance on the matter.

However, earlier this month, The Scotsman revealed that the Scottish Private Nursery Association was considering taking legal action, saying that they are already “on their knees” and that any expansion should not be considered until a rescue plan for the sector had been drawn up. And now figures produced by the Scottish Liberal Democrats show that the number of nursery teachers working in state-funded early learning and childcare has fallen from 1,386 in 2012 to just 734 in 2022 – a cut of nearly 50 per cent in a decade.

While early years ‘practitioners’ do much good work, this astonishing reduction in the number of teachers working with pre-school children will have certainly reduced the quality of childcare, as the Lib Dems’ education spokesperson, Willie Rennie, pointed out.

“These figures show that specialist expertise has been drained from nurseries. Those with these qualifications have had their posts removed because they are too expensive to keep,” the former party leader said. “We need them as part of the important mix of staff alongside other excellent team members. Children have missed out on so much. The poverty-related attainment gap has widened and both parents and teachers are struggling to see any solutions from this failing government.”

Regrettably, this appears to be yet another example of SNP rhetoric, which we have no doubt is well-intentioned, not being matched by the actual delivery on the ground. It is one thing to decide that provision will be expanded, quite another to ensure that this is done in an effective way. If such pronouncements are accompanied by dramatic cuts in the number of key staff, then the reality on the ground is unlikely to be quite as rosy as ministers suggest.

The SNP-Green government needs to urgently get a grip and focus on the delivery of policies, rather than making grandiose statements that sound good but achieve little.