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The Tories have promised 30 hours of free childcare next year for three and four-year-olds with working parents
David Cameron's promise of 30 hours free childcare for working parents could leave thousands of families disappointed because of a severe funding crisis, headteachers warn today.
The flagship Tory policy of free childcare for three and four-year-olds is due to come in from September 2016, a year earlier than planned, but headteachers say they are already having to subsidise nurseries out of already stretched school budgets.
A survey by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), which represents 29,000 school leaders, found nearly six out of ten (59%) are not getting enough money to fund nurseries.
Four out of five are having to cover the shortfall from the school budget and two-thirds think they will have to reduce the number of children they can take in nurseries by up to 50% if the number of free hours is increased to 30.
That could see families left bitterly disappointed if their children are unable to start nursery and the NAHT is having urgent talks with the Department for Education and is demanding a “national fair funding formula for nursery education.”
Half of the schools in England say they can’t increase nursery numbers because of lack of space.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/headteachers-funding-fears-over-free-6401395
