An additional 170 early years apprenticeships are to be created across Scotland, giving young people access to child care careers.

On a visit to Cherrytrees Nursery in Melrose, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Fiona Hyslop said the apprenticeships would provide young people the opportunity to develop their skills, understanding and experience within an expanding employment sector.

At the nursery the Cabinet Secretary heard about the benefits of investing in early years skills development when she met with young people taking part in modern apprenticeship programmes as well as Get Ready for Work and Skillseekers initiatives.

Ms Hyslop said:
"This government is clear that an early start is the best start for Scotland's children. By ensuring support is in place at the first opportunity we can give every young person the chance to reach their potential.

"Developing the skills and career opportunities of those delivering early years services is key to helping us achieve that goal, and will also help support Scotland's economy out of recession and back to economic growth.

"These apprenticeships will not only help young people into rewarding child care careers, but will support the expansion of the sector - allowing the additional capacity to help deliver on our commitment to increasing pre-school entitlement and allowing more parents back to work.

"The young apprentices I have met here today have left me in no doubt that with their experience and enthusiasm, together with the Early Years Framework setting out action to help give all our children the best start in life, we will make real progress towards tackling inequality and delivering a smarter Scotland."

Carole Wilkinson, Chief Executive, Scottish Social Services Council, added:
"As Skills for Care and Development, the sector skills council for the social care, children, early years and young people's workforces in Scotland we welcome today's announcement. This is a growing workforce which has already demonstrated a commitment to its own learning and training and through its work contributes to the development and learning of thousands of children as well as providing essential support for families.

"It is crucial that they have the skills for a rewarding and demanding career in early years. This is a vital source of funding for training, particularly for those small to medium size organisations which will have a significant impact on the quality of care early years workers provide and improve outcomes for our children and families."

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) will contract for an additional 170 early years apprenticeships in 2009/10. These will be funded by the £16 million announced in the Scottish Budget for the recruitment of 7,800 new apprentices.

Early years apprenticeships are at SVQ levels 3 and 4 and are available for young people aged 16 to 19 years old. These apprenticeships typically last between 9 months and 2 years.

Cherrytrees Nursery in Melrose was established in 2002 and provides care for children aged from 0 to 12 years. It offers a breakfast club, an out of school club and a holiday club. The nursery works in partnership with Scottish Borders Council to offer subsidised places for 3 to 5 year-olds.

The Early Years Framework was launched on 10 December 2008, signalling the Scottish Government and COSLA's commitment to the earliest years of life being crucial to a child's development.

Today's announcement is the latest strand of ScotAction - an integrated package combining new and improved measures to help individuals and businesses through the recession and provide skills assistance.

The first phase of ScotAction (announced on 10 June) was the 'Adopt an Apprentice' scheme which offers a £2,000 financial incentive for employers to recruit a redundant apprentice. Since then the Scottish Government has announced 1250 adult apprenticeship opportunities in the health and social care sector, 100 Life Science apprenticeships, and 500 all-age apprentices in the hospitality and tourism sector.