Care and Education in Pre-school Provision

Abstract

Anyone who is even slightly familiar with the state of pre-school provision in Great Britain today will be aware that one of its most noted characteristics is its insufficiency. The history of the development of services for the under-fives in this country has been, for most of the present century, one of alternating starts, stops and, occasionally, actual contraction. As a result, the overall amount of provision available today is considerably lower than in most other advanced industrialised nations, particularly neighbouring countries such as France and Belgium (Tizard, Moss and Perry, 1976).