Education; Standards

This paper explores the discourse on nursery education in Great Britain. The provision of nursery education in the 1990s is in a vulnerable position, due to the changing nature of the famiiy in society and to the lark of strong justification for its existence in the face of government intervention. A schism exists concerning the need for development and implementation of a comprehensive, coherent policy concerning preschool education. A maior tension exists concerning the aims and purposes of provision for young children outside their homes. Program quality is a key concern. The criteria by which quality is measured are determined by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) and applied cyclically to schools through a planned program of inspections. This paper is divided into the following sections: (1) "The Impact of Political Interest on Early Childhood Provision, " detailing the history o