This is a comment left over at CiF at the bottom of Polly’s rant on child care today. I wonder if it will receive a response. Her outlining of the wonderful Nordic child care system does seem to have a few gaps in it.

‘Again, the government wills the right ends, but not the means, wanting Nordic services at US tax rates.’

What’s this Nordic level of services then Polly?

http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/BasicFactsheet____4132.aspx

‘ Local authorities provide grants for non-municipal childcare, i.e.
undertakings run by a principal other than the local authority. The
size of the grant is to correspond to the cost per child in a
corresponding municipal undertaking and fees may not exceed those
charged by the local authority. About 17% of all children attending
pre-schools in 2003 were at a pre-school operating under non-municipal
(private) auspices. The corresponding figure for leisure-time centres
was 8%. The most common form of non-municipal undertaking is the parent
cooperative.’

That’s the local authority acting as a commissioning body isn’t it? Buying in services from the private sector?

‘By tradition, staff in childcare services in Sweden are well
trained. There are four staff categories––pre-school teachers,
recreation (leisure-time) instructors, daycare attendants and
childminders in family daycare. Pre-school teachers and recreation
instructors undergo a three-year educational training programme at
university level focusing on teaching methods, development psychology,
family sociology and creative activity. Some of the courses run
concurrently. As a rule, daycare attendants have upper-secondary
qualifications while municipal childminders have often attended
training courses organised by the local authority itself.’

Those ‘highly trained pedagogues’ you speak of so fondly are not in
fact all of them now are they? Upper-secondary refers to something, I
would guess, between GCSE and A levels while ‘training course’ could
mean anything at all.

‘Municipal costs for public childcare are met by state grants, local
tax revenue and parental fees. Gross costs for childcare in Sweden
amounted in 2003 to SEK 46,000 million, which corresponds to 13 % of
the local authorities’ total costs, or almost 2 % of the Swedish GDP.’

Parents pay fees for the childcare. Where exactly is this ‘free high quality child care’ that you speak of?