PLANS to introduce a national curriculum for babies and toddlers are absolute madness, parents' groups warned last night.

The Childcare Bill proposed laws requiring every childminder and nursery to teach the curriculum to children from birth until they start school aged five.

Under the plan, all three-year-olds in childcare would learn rudimentary maths, language and literacy.

Margaret Morrissey, spokeswoman for the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, condemned the "bizarre" proposal.

"We are now in danger of taking away children's childhood when they leave the maternity ward," she said.

"From the minute you are born and your parents go back to work, as the Government has encouraged them to do, you are going to be ruled by the Department for Education. It is absolute madness."

The Bill also gives local authorities a duty to make sure all working parents have access to childcare facilities.

But the Local Government Association (LGA) said council tax or childcare bills may have to rise to fund the plan.

Children's Minister Beverley Hughes acknowledged that the Bill did not give parents any new legal right to access to childcare.

And it would require local authorities to act only "as far as is reasonably practicable" within the constraints of funding.

LGA education spokeswoman Alison King said the proposals in the Bill would need substantial extra Government investment.

"To be on track to meet the Government's ambitions means investing £200m in the next two years over and above existing resources," she said.

"If Government can't find this money, the cost will be borne either by parents or council tax payers."

Theresa May, Shadow Secretary of State for the Family, said: "The Government's announcement to place the onus for childcare on local authorities is an abdication of responsibility.

"As a result of this Bill, local authorities will literally be left holding the baby."

Deborah Lawson, vice-chairwoman of the Professional Association of Teachers, said: "We do need to have some guidelines and parameters, but nothing that is too prescriptive."

The Government drew up the curriculum for toddlers, arguing that research showed earlier education helped children develop faster socially and intellectually.

Publishing the Bill in Westminster, Miss Hughes said: "We want to establish a coherent framework that defines progression for young children from nought to five."

The minister said the curriculum, to be known as the Early Years Foundation Stage, would build on an existing system which teaches three-year-olds "mathematical development and communication, language and literacy", the Department for Education said.

But childminders in the region last night supported the proposals, saying it was a natural extension of the work they already do.

Jan Mennell, chairwoman of Darlington Childminders' Association, said members already helped babies and toddlers with rudimentary literacy, numeracy and language.

"We promote this sort of thing every day and you do it without even knowing it," she said.

One childminder in Middlesbrough, who asked not to be named, said: "From my experience, most of the childminders are happy to continue training at college to offer more learning experiences."

Chris McEwan, Darlington Borough Council's cabinet member for children's services, said: "It is important that education does start at zero. But it should not just be about the scholastic side of things, but also giving children different experiences."

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