In line with emerging best practice to support the integration and independence of children with a disability, AIM level 7 provides additional funding to pre-schools who have a child requiring extra support. Providers can use this funding either to reduce the child-to-adult ratio in the pre-school room or to fund an extra staff member. This staff member is a shared resource with other children in the pre-school room. The Early Years Services Regulations (S.I. No. 221/2016) require that all staff who are employed by an early learning and care provider and who work directly with children of pre-school age must hold, at a minimum, a major award at level 5 on the NFQ in Early Childhood Care and Education or a qualification deemed equivalent by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
The December 2016 amendment to the Regulations (S.I. No. 632/2016) provided for exceptional cases in which an exemption from the Level 5 requirement may be made for children with specific needs in the context of AIM. An example of a relevant situation is where a child with complex healthcare needs requires specialised health supports, such as nursing, in order to attend the pre-school.
Tusla, the independent statutory regulator of pre-school services, has published a Quality and Regulatory Framework (QRF), which specifies how the Regulations will be interpreted by the Early Years Inspectorate. The QRF (section 2, paragraph 6) specifies that exemption under AIM from the qualification requirement requires an exemption letter from Pobal.
This requirement for an exemption letter from Pobal is also specified in the Funding Agreement for the ECCE pre-school programme, which states, with reference to the Level 5 minimum qualification requirement, that "In exceptional cases, an exemption may be made under AIM, wherein a child with medically complex needs who is availing of AIM Level 7 requires specialised health supports, for example healthcare assistant or nursing care. An exemption may be granted by Pobal where it is considered that such specialist support is required and this may detail the qualification requirements or relevant specialist training of the staff member involved."
As these cases are exceptional, the majority of Access and Inclusion Model support workers are still required to hold at least a major award in Early Childhood Care and Education at Level 5 on the National Qualifications Framework, as set out in S.I. No. 221/2016.
