Early-years teacher training, because the Montessori trade is enormous

A first step

Visit five preschools in your town and ask the owners what training their teachers have, what they wish they had, and what they would pay for a short certificate course. Then run one Saturday workshop on a single skill, such as early reading, and charge a small fee. Preschool owners who book staff onto a second session are the proof.

Who pays first

A preschool owner who needs trained teachers to win parents' trust and will pay for a short certificate course for the staff.

What leaves today

The Montessori trade is enormous and unregulated, so parents pay for early education with no proof of its quality.

The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.

The test

Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?

The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.

In the book

• Ch. OneThe Letter That Says Yes and Means No
  177,588 qualified, 45,000 placed

More from cluster 16

• 321Employer-owned technical colleges: the hotels train the chefs, the port trains the planners
• 322Apprenticeship brokers who match a firm to a student and handle the paperwork, for a fee from the firm
• 323Nursing colleges to the British and Australian standard, with the return clause built into the fees
• 324Electrician, plumber and welder certification centres whose certificates are recognised abroad
• 325English tutoring by video for the districts, at a price a family can pay, with a test at the end
• 326Tuition classes that publish their pass rates, so that parents can compare

All 20 ideas in this cluster