Fife parents say the council’s attempt to roll out 1140 hours of free childcare is causing anxiety and uncertainty among families.
One parent who spoke to The Courier said there were fears children already settled in nurseries attached to primary schools might have to relocate in their pre-school year.
Parents have said the increased hours will ultimately lead to a reduction in the number of places available at local authority nurseries, and raised concerns about the hours being offered, claiming they do not fit around the working day and could lead to an increased reliance on private nurseries.
A petition has been launched by parents in west Fife who have accused Fife Council of failing to deliver the Scottish Government’s Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) policy.
One of the parents behind the petition said: “Removing children from a familiar nursery setting by reducing access to those places is not GIRFEC.
“Providing greater flexibility for parents to choose multiple providers for their early years education is also a key component of the legislation – the complete lack of engagement with childminders within Fife completely undermines the basic premise of the policy.”
Samantha Young, who started the petition, said: “It is causing so much stress and anxiety to parents. How are you supposed to tell a three or four-year-old they can’t go back to their nursery.
“The infrastructure is not there and neither is common sense.”
Another west Fife parent, who asked not to be named, claimed there was a lack of transparency, adding: “Most other local authorities have invested in their school estates to ensure that they can offer priority to returners in their admissions process but Fife Council haven’t.”
Fife Council maintains it has “done a huge amount of work on our programme of new builds, extensions and refurbishments” to expand nursery provision.
The options the authority is offering includes 9am to 3pm five days a week for 38 weeks of the year, two and a half full days a week for 46 weeks and half day sessions for 49 weeks.
Shelagh McLean, Fife Council’s head of education and children’s services, said: “There is no ideal standard which will be suitable for every family and their needs. What we have done is try to make sure that there are at least three different options in each area. In rural areas options to access 1140 hours will still be available to all.”
Ms McLean dismissed claims that places would be offered on a first come, first served basis.
“We prioritise children with any additional needs first and then try, where possible, to allocate to children locally,” she said.
“Parents will find out which place they have been given by the end of March. We ask parents to put down more than one preference to make sure no one is left without a place. Making other preferences does not reduce the chance of getting your first choice.”
The council has come under fire for being slow to engage childminders, who are vital for enabling parents to juggle work and childcare.
Ms McLean said: “At the moment there are several childminders who work in partnership with us, and we are working hard over the next few months to support many more childminders to come on board.”
She added: “Nursery areas in Fife are not divided in the same way as school catchments. There are more than 150 school catchment areas but only 22 local nursery areas.
“This means there cannot be a direct connection between one nursery and one primary school.
“Parents, for many reasons, may choose to use nurseries or other childcare not in their school catchment. Wherever a child attends nursery there are transition arrangements which help to settle our children into primary one.”
