Decline in uptake of early years teacher training due to poor pay, study finds

The government must raise the status of early years teachers to prevent a brain drain from the sector, according to the educators’ union Voice and the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (Pacey). In a joint report the two organisations highlight how fewer people are joining courses leading to early years teacher status. When the role was first introduced in 2013 more than 2,300 people enrolled in early years initial teacher training courses, compared with just 595 in autumn 2017. The report argues that the decline is in part due to early years teachers not being treated as equals to primary school teachers – a situation that limits their career opportunities, pay and conditions. An online survey carried out for the report showed that 64 per cent of early years teachers had found it hard to find graduate-level jobs in early years and 82 per cent of current students are pessimistic about their employment prospects. Read more.