Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 November 2004
493 Mr. English asked the Minister for Education and Science the plans in place to guarantee or to grant every eligible child a place in a pre-school in the rapidly expanding towns of County Meath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29259/04]
View answerThe further development of early childhood services in accordance with the White Paper on Early Childhood Education, Ready to Learn, is being undertaken on a collaborative, phased basis and will draw together and build upon the many examples of best practice in early childhood education that have emerged in recent years.
To help combat disadvantage and promote access to education, special emphasis will be placed on the provision of appropriate pre-school education in areas of social deprivation and for those with special needs. To that end my Department supports the Early Start scheme which funds 40 centres that aim to expose children aged three-four years from disadvantaged areas to a positive pre-school environment so as to improve their overall development and long-term educational experience and performance. The Department also funds 52 pre-schools for Travellers which aim to develop children's cognitive, language and social skills, to prepare children for entry to primary school and to provide a foundation for further learning.
My Department established the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, CECDE, in October 2002 to develop, within a three year period, a quality framework for early childhood education and to develop, through active research with existing programmes, targeted interventions for children who have special needs or who are disadvantaged. The centre is currently developing a quality conceptual framework of early childhood learning and development which will be completed early in 2005.
In addition, Ireland recently participated in a major OECD review which assessed quality, access and co-ordination in early childhood provision. This review was published on 24 September and offers a number of important recommendations and observations which will inform policy and programme development in the sector and will assist the work of the CECDE, among others.
Early childhood education and care is a horizontal policy issue involving several Departments and agencies. The policy implications of the recommendations arising from the OECD review are under active consideration within my Department and also by the relevant sub-group of the Government's high level working group on childcare and early education.
