Clause 73 - meaning of ''nursery education'' and related expressions
Education Bill
4:45 pm
Mrs Eleanor Laing (Epping Forest, Conservative)
I appreciate that the Minister is genuinely trying to answer my question, but he has not done so. What is the difference between a day nursery and a playgroup or a pre-school and a holiday club? Do the Government intend that all those should be lumped together under the definition:
''education suitable for children who have not attained compulsory school age''?
What does ''suitable'' mean? Who decides what is suitable? In one part of the country the Government's pledge for a place for a three-year-old might be interpreted as two hours a week in a playgroup, supervised by an unqualified assistant. In another part of the country the education authority might decide that a three-year-old requires five mornings a week in a pre-school, supervised or taught by a qualified teacher.
Will this be left as a loose definition so that those who provide funding in different parts of the country can come to their own conclusion about what they consider is necessary or suitable? Who is to decide on suitability? The Minister has missed one of my main points. How will parents know that there is a pledge for their children to have a certain type of education at a certain age when it is not clearly defined what that should be? We all know what children are entitled to between the ages of five and 16. If the Government have made a pledge, that pledge ought to be clear. The Minister's answer has not made it any clearer.