The policy will cost around £140 million and create 100,000 childcare places, the party said.
The policy will cost around £140 million and create 100,000 childcare places, the party said.
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The Labor government has announced that “prep” classrooms at 3,334 primary schools in England will be converted into nurseries.
The policy, which the party said would be funded by plans to levy VAT on private school tuition fees, would create “100,000 additional childcare places”, according to Labor.
tutelar The party reported it would spend £140 million on the plan.
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Childcare centers “may be run by the school itself or by local private or voluntary sector childcare providers,” the party said. Detailed plans have not been disclosed.
Many primary schools in England already have nurseries and the falling rolls will free up more physical space in the future.
The number of elementary school students has been decreasing for several years due to a decline in birth rates since the baby boom in the 2000s.
The number of pupils in state nurseries and primary schools is expected to fall by a further 524,000 between this year and 2030.
Labour's policy will be formally announced on Monday by Labor leader Keir Starmer and shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Jon Richards, deputy general secretary at UNISON, said: “A new nursery added to a school can make a world of difference to mums and dads struggling to find affordable childcare.
“Workers in school-run care homes follow nationally agreed local authority rates, so wages tend to be higher than in privately run facilities.”
School-based childcare is ‘high quality’.
The party's press release said the move “represents the next step in our long-term plan to deliver a modern childcare system that can better support parents from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school.”
The expansion will see Labor transform classrooms to create 3,300 high-quality childcare places.
The party said this would help “meet the immediate need for childcare in underserved areas, and any additional demand expected from the expansion of government-funded childcare eligibility announced in Budget 2023, which Labor has committed to delivering.” “It will help,” he said.
Starmer warned: “After 14 years of Conservative government, too many children are already starting school behind and too many parents are being prevented from achieving their career ambitions.”
Phillipson said school-based nurseries “provide high-quality education to help children achieve and grow when they reach primary school.”
“The 3,300 new childcare places we are announcing today will be key to delivering Labour’s mission to help half a million more children meet their early learning goals by 2030 and give them a solid foundation to succeed. ”
The party said plans to renovate individual classrooms would cost an average of £40,000.
Multiplied by 3,334 new nurseries, the cost of setting up would be around £134 million.
The party said it would extend the provision of free childcare to 30 hours to raise funds needed to train staff and run daycare centers.