Extend school hours to help parents with childcare costs, children’s tsar urges
12 October 2022, 14:03
School days should be extended to help reduce childcare costs, the Children’s Commissioner has recommended.
Dame Rachel de Souza said making the school day longer was the “most straightforward approach” to support struggling parents.
She insisted proposals to up childcare ratios and the amount of free hours parents can get was merely “tinkering”.
In her report, Vision for Childcare, Dame Rachel said schools are at 'the heart of the community' and are in the best position to provide after-hours care for kids, and offers other benefits including extracurricular activities.
She said: “The most straightforward approach to making childcare manageable and affordable is by providing an extended school day, so children can be cared for on school premises.
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"This would address the biggest existing gap in childcare provision, with the majority of areas saying there is a lack of provision for after school care for children aged 5-14.
“It will mean doing much more than tinkering around the edges.”
At present, parents of three and four-year-olds can claim between 15 and 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks a year.
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said The Mail that government investment is necessary to make the bring it to fruition.
Dr Bousted said: 'There is no doubt that properly planned, well-resourced out-of-school provision is of benefit to many children and families. The onus on government is to fund such a scheme.
'Primary teachers in England already work longer hours than their counterparts in Europe. Teaching assistants, as a result of low pay, are leaving their jobs in large numbers.
'Appallingly, between 2010 and 2020, 70 per cent of local authority youth services were cut, placing a heavier burden on schools. Investment in a larger workforce is essential if the proposals made by the Children's Commissioner are not to remain on the shelf.
'The provision of services for children and young people must be looked at in the round and funding for all the services that support young people restored.'
Prime Minister Liz Truss has said cutting childcare costs is a priority for her government, while new measures will be revealed this winter by ministers.
