Scottish Government
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Early years education
Teachers with specialist skills in early childhood education are to be created in Scotland by new courses which begin after the summer.
The courses will provide specific training in early education so that graduate teachers can best meet the needs of younger children in nursery and early primary.
The Scottish Government is committing over £150,000 to pilot a postgraduate degree in early education for teachers at the University of Aberdeen and over £60,000 to the University of Stirling to develop a primary teaching degree with an early years specialism.
Childrens Minister Adam Ingram - who made the announcement at an Early Years Framework conference in Edinburgh today - said:
"The Scottish Government believes that our young people are our greatest asset and by getting children off to a good start and helping them fulfil their potential we will create future economic and social benefits for everyone.
"That's why our Early Years Framework is fostering an unprecedented focus on helping our youngest children and we have already delivered record levels of pre-school entitlement for Scotland's children - with further increases on the way.
"We're moving to build on that foundation and recognise how important good quality nursery education is to early development. It's vital that we ensure pre-school children are stimulated and encouraged by learning that is relevant to them and teachers are at the heart of that drive.
"In our Concordat with COSLA, we have made a joint commitment to ensure every pre-school child has access to a teacher and by boosting the number of teachers with early years expertise we will promote excellence in this area and help children get off on the right track from the very beginning.
"These qualifications will produce teachers with flexible skills in primary education who also have the benefit of intensive training specifically in early years education. We will see these specialists graduating from next year - when the Scottish Government will increase pre-school entitlement to 570 hours for every pupil."
From autumn, around 40 teachers working in early years settings across the north of Scotland will begin the Postgraduate Certificate in Early Education in Aberdeen, and a class of around 20 undergraduate students will begin the BA Professional Education (primary) with specialism in early years at the University of Stirling.
The Scottish Government is providing the University of Aberdeen with £156,000 to pilot the postgraduate course for one year. It is then expected the course will continue without Scottish Government funding.
The University of Stirling already offers two primary education pathways with specialisms in either the environment or modern languages. From autumn 2009, it will offer a primary education pathway with an early years specialism after the Scottish Government committed £61,928 for its development.
The Scottish Government and COSLA launched the transformational Early Years Framework - to improve the life chances of Scotland's children and tackle inequalities by targeting the early years - in December.
Last year the Scottish Government launched the BA Childhood Practice qualification.
The Scottish Government has increased nursery entitlement to 475 hours per year for every child with a further increase to 570 hours coming in 2010.
