Speaking as he returned from a fact finding trip to Norway, Ingram said that examining the approaches taken by other countries will help the Government develop its Early Years Framework, which is due to be launched later this year. 

He said: "The early years are a period of rapid development and can have a major influence on the rest of a child's life. They provide the best opportunity to improve life chances and reduce the need for later interventions that are more costly in both financial and social terms. 

"It was interesting to see how another society approaches the nurturing of its young children and the impact of that in later life. Indeed, there is a lot we can learn from Norway - a country with a similar population size to Scotland - about the success of its child-centred approach and its emphasis on investment in young people.” 

During his trip the Minister toured the Filipstua nature kindergarten, where children spend most of the school day outside learning about nature, and visited schools and teacher and youthwork training programmes. He also learned about local authorities’ ‘upbringing plans,’ which co-ordinate all the services affecting a young person’s life, including health, education and leisure. 

For more background on the Scottish Government’s forthcoming Early Years Framework click here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/03/18164946