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Qualified nursery staff from Kenya have taken up roles in Jersey and Guernsey to fill a “critical shortage” in the sector – with seven more to follow before April.
The initiative comes after the Jersey Early Years Association and recruitment agency GR8 successfully put forward a business case last year to change the island's work permit policy to allow suitably skilled early-years practitioners to be employed from overseas.
GR8 also worked with the Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department to ensure the workers' skills and experience met the requirements for the sector.
Managing director of GR8 Lee Madden said: "The sector has been facing difficulties recruiting and retaining the right staff for some time and we worked with businesses, educators and governments to create a solution that meets all the obligations while also providing year-round childcare.
"Through our partnerships in Kenya, we have access to hundreds of fully qualified and experienced early-years practitioners who are ready to start, and we have set up a programme that makes sure that they are prepared for the cultural differences that they may face when coming to work here."
Pictured: GR8 recruitment has already established links with Kenya for recruitment in other industries.
He continued: "Due to the cost-of-living crisis, more families have both parents working while their children are young and that's increasing the pressure on private sector and not-for-profit nurseries."
GR8 worked with nurseries in the private sector to bring about changes that would make it possible to recruit from countries that are not in the Common Travel Area.
The staff hold equivalent qualifications to those attainable from Highlands College and all have the required experience and training to comply with the stringent recruitment process that the islands follow.
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