IT'S difficult to overstate the importance of a good nursery education.

It speeds up development, builds relationships and lays the ground work for success at primary school. So you might think that when it comes to nursery provision all children are treated the same - after all, it's only fair.

And yet, at the moment, children across Scotland are receiving fewer months of nursery care simply because they were born at a certain time of year. It's all to do with the way the Scottish Government funds nursery care and it means thousands of Scots families are missing out.

It works like this - if a child is born between March 1 and August 31, they are entitled to two full years of free nursery before beginning school, but if a child is born between September 1 and December 31, they will only get 18 months.

If they are unlucky enough to be born between January 1 and February 28, they will receive just 15 months.

This situation is grossly unfair and benefits some children more than others.

Reform Scotland, an independent think tank, has labelled this practice "birthday discrimination" and the Scottish Conserva-tives want rid of it.

That is why earlier this year, during the passage of the Children and Young People Act, my colleague Liz Smith laid amendments to end birthday discrimination once and for all.

Despite gaining support from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, the SNP voted the move down.

Disappointing as this was, we remain open to working with the Scottish Government to change things for the better.

Because there is nothing fair and nothing just about a system that can see a child born in June receiving nine more months of nursery entitlement than a child born in January.

And there is nothing fair and nothing just about a system where only 50% of children are guaranteed two full years of nursery provision.

A single start point, in line with primary schools, would end the present shortcoming and would place nursery provision on an equal basis for all children.

Nicola Sturgeon used to say that childcare could only be improved with independence.

She now acknowledges what we have been saying for years - that Holyrood can improve childcare for families now, and it should do so.

Ending birthday discrimination would be a good place to start.

All the other parties are agreed that to give our youngsters the best chance in life they need to be well prepared for school. It shouldn't matter when you are born, all Scotland's children deserve the best start in life.