– in the Scottish Parliament at on 18 January 2018.
7. To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government will take to increase, and improve diversity in, the early learning and childcare workforce. (S5F-01939)
Ensuring that we have a high-quality workforce is key to our plans to almost double funded nursery education, and that of course includes improving diversity. Phase 1 of our recruitment campaign was launched in October last year. The campaign encourages people from all backgrounds, abilities, age ranges and genders to consider a career in early learning and childcare. We are also increasing the number of early years modern apprenticeships by 10 per cent year on year, and we are raising the amount paid to employers and businesses to support apprentices aged over 25 to help to widen the age profile of the workforce.
This week, the First Minister’s own skills agency said that the work that is going on in recruitment is not enough and that a more diverse workforce is needed. Does she therefore accept that nursery and childcare take-up by two-year-olds is way below expectations and that many organisations doubt that the Scottish Government can meet its recruitment target? Is recruitment of the 11,000 new staff that is needed to deliver the expansion of childcare on track?
The policy is on track. I am not sure whether Tavish Scott is perhaps mixing up two equally important issues. The issue of take-up by two-year-olds is important. We see very high take-up by three and four-year-olds and we want take-up by two-year-olds to increase. That is important, and is slightly separate from the broader issue of recruitment of additional workers into the workforce to support the expansion of provision that I have spoken about. I have set out the Government’s ambition to attract 11,000 new workers into the workforce to support that.
Tavish Scott is absolutely right to say that, in addition to that overall number, we want greater diversity. One of the things that I talk about often is the need to get more women into careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is equally important to encourage more men into childcare professions. Those are really important matters, and as part of our overall ambitions to grow the workforce, that need for greater diversity is central to all that we do.
That leads nicely on to my question. Childcare and early years education have traditionally been seen as a female industry, with women accounting for 97 per cent of the workforce. That suggests that we could do more to encourage men to see a career in the area as the important and rewarding career that it is. What steps is the Scottish Government taking to change perceptions of careers in childcare and early years?
That is a responsibility for the Government and for all of us. We made those points when I launched the Scottish Government’s drive to recruit thousands more people to support our expansion. The recruitment campaign focuses on the need for greater diversity as well as the need to grow the numbers. The underrepresentation of men in such careers is a long-standing and intergenerational issue. It is important that we take the time to explain why the career is a worthwhile one for men to pursue and why it is important to the development of our children that men as well as women provide that care. That is all part of tackling the occupational segregation that, in most professions, affects women but that in this one is a particular issue for men. I hope that we all do as much as we can to encourage young men to see a career in childcare and early years education as a very worthy and worthwhile option.