Kathleen Funchion
Question:1000. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated additional cost of the roll-out of Aistear across the early years sector. [31652/21]
View answerTuesday, 15 June 2021
Questions (1000)
Written answers
Aistear, the national curriculum framework for early childhood, was developed by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NCCA). Since its development 12 years ago it has been used as a tool to support quality on many levels across the range of services that support the learning and care of children from birth to 6 years old. Aistear is relevant to all settings for children from birth to 6 years old, and it includes suggestions on ways in which parents can support their children's early learning. Measures to support the use of Aistear are rolled out in an integrated way with supports for the Síolta national quality framework.
Given the diverse ways in which use of Aistear is currently supported, and its integrated roll-out with Síolta, it is not possible at present to give a single figure for the cost of rolling out Aistear across the early learning and care sector.
The roll-out of Aistear, which is supported by the Aistear-Síolta Practice Guide (published in 2015), is embedded in initial/pre-service training programmes (leading to qualifications at Levels 5, 6, 7 and 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications/NFQ) and in a range of training courses aimed at the continuing professional development of early learning and care practitioners.
Its roll-out is also embedded in the mentoring work carried out by the Better Start Quality Development Service, and in the inspections of early learning and care services that are carried out by both Tusla (the statutory regulator for early learning and care and school-age childcare services) and the Inspectorate of the Department of Education.
Progress continues to be made in the on-going roll-out of Aistear and Síolta across the sector. Recent initiatives include on-going work to reform and strengthen the training awards at Levels 5 and 6 on the NFQ and undergraduate degree programmes, including further embedding Aistear and Síolta within these awards.
The National Síolta Aistear Initiative (NSAI) is a collaboration (begun in 2016) between my Department, the Department of Education, Better Start, and the NCCA. The purpose of the NSAI is to support the implementation of both Aistear and the Síolta national quality framework. Training courses delivered within the NSAI include both foundation or introductory courses that give the background and fundamentals of Síolta and Aistear (4 workshops, delivered through the City and County Childcare Committees) and the Aistear and Play CPD programme (which is delivered by the Better Start Quality Development Service). The budget for the NSAI in 2021 is €500,000.The Aistear and Play CPD programme has been delivered by Better Start since March 2019. It consists of 5 individual workshops (two and a half hours each) and two on-site support visits with an early years mentor to support services to apply the learning from the training course within their setting. In 2019 the National Síolta Aistear Initiative offered 60 Aistear and Play CPD courses, with 15-20 participants per course. Roll-out in 2020 and 2021 has been interrupted by Covid-19. An evaluation of the Better Start Quality Development Service will begin shortly, and a review of the Aistear and Play CPD programme has recently been carried out. The results of these evaluations will help to identify the next steps in the roll-out of Aistear.