From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
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New figures show how the government’s free pre-school programme - the Early Childhood Care and Education or ECCE programme - has transformed early learning experiences and development opportunities for young children in this country, according to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman.
The pre-school programme provides young children with their first formal experience of early learning prior to commencing primary school. When introduced in 2010, children could for one year of free pre-school, which was delivered over 38 weeks of the year in line with the school year – September-June. Since 2018, children can qualify for two years of pre-school, without charge to parents.
With over million children – or a fifth of the population – enrolled in the programme since it was first introduced, uptake rates in excess of 96%, State investment topping €3 billion and barriers faced by children in accessing the programme removed through additional supports provided through the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) and Equal Start, the Minister says the programme has provided important learning and development opportunities to all young children, in particular children with a disability and children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The programme has also been behind a dramatic shift in school starting age, with the proportion of four-year-olds in junior infants down to 16% in 2023/24 from 40% in 2009/10 and has been a key impetus for professionalising the sector. Prior to the introduction of the ECCE Programme, there was no minimum qualification for staff working in the sector. Today, the minimum qualification for staff delivering the programme is NFQ Level 5 for Educators and NFQ Level 6 for Lead Educators.
Work now underway to introduce a statutory entitlement to the programme will build on this strong foundation, according to Minister O’Gorman and will be informed by the findings from an Independent Review of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECCE) Programme, conducted by Stranmillis University College, Belfast, which the Minister also published today.
Welcoming these latest figures and the findings from the Review, Minister O’Gorman said:
“These figures I have released today and the findings from the review by Stranmillis University College show the success story the ECCE programme has become.
“With more than 1 million enrolments since the programme was first introduced and uptake rates in excess of 96%, it is clear this programme has been embraced wholeheartedly by children and their families and by wider society.
“Moreover, with 40% of families reporting that they would not have been able to enrol their child in pre-school had it not been for the ECCE programme, it is clear that this programme has altered early learning experiences and development opportunities for all children and children experiencing disadvantage in particular.
“I am grateful to providers and early years educator across the country who are behind these figures and this success, and I wish to acknowledge their crucial role in transforming children’s lives through education and care.
“Work to introduce a statutory entitlement to the ECCE programme is now underway, which will build on this strong foundation. This work will be informed by the findings from the Independent Review of the ECCE programme, which I published today.”
The Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) is a free, universal two-year preschool programme available to all children within the eligible age range funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth (DCEDIY). It provides children with their first formal experience of early learning prior to commencing primary school.
The department funds a national network of City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) who provide support and advice to parents/guardians and childcare providers, including support on applying for the various funding schemes administered by the department and assistance for parents/guardians on all aspects of childcare.
Childcare services taking part in the ECCE Programme must provide an appropriate preschool educational programme which adheres to the principles of Síolta, the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Aistear, the early childhood curriculum framework for children from birth up to the age of six years.
The ECCE programme is provided for 3 hours per day, 5 days per week over 38 weeks per year (or 182 days which can be found on the provider’s ECCE calendar), and the programme year runs from 1 September to 30 June each year.
The programme is free and available to all children who have turned 2 years and 8 months of age by 31 August and must not be older than 5 years and 6 months of age on or before 30th June, of the programme year.
The Access and Inclusion Model, AIM, enables children with a disability to access and participate meaningfully in the State-funded ECCE programme in mainstream settings to the same degree as their peers. AIM is based on need and does not require a formal diagnosis of disability. AIM seeks to create a more inclusive environment in early learning and childcare settings and achieves this by providing universal supports and targeted supports to settings, which focus on the needs of the individual child.
Universal supports are designed to create a more inclusive culture in early learning and care settings, through training courses and qualifications for staff. Where universal supports are not enough to meet the needs of an individual child, targeted supports are available. Targeted supports under AIM include:
One of the commitments in First 5, the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families, was to undertake an evaluation of AIM and, subject to evaluation findings and other relevant developments, to consider enhancements to, and/or extension of, AIM to, for example, all early learning and care services, all school-age childcare services and to children with additional needs other than a disability.
The AIM evaluation was published in January 2024. The findings have informed this expansion of targeted AIM supports to children beyond time spent in the ECCE programme, in term and out of term from September 2024. The intent of the additional hours funding is to support ECCE-enrolled children with a disability to access early learning and care outside of the ECCE programme if they wish to do so.
In addition to this, an action plan has been developed to respond to areas for improvement identified through the AIM evaluation, including increasing awareness of AIM, further building the capacity and confidence of educators and providers in supporting children with autism and streamlining the application process for equipment, appliances, and minor alterations.
Equal Start is a funding model and a set of universal and targeted measures to support access and full participation in early learning and care (ELC) and school-age childcare (SAC) for children and their families who experience disadvantage. In support of this overarching objective, Equal Start consists of a series of actions – 17 in total – to support children and families as well as educators, practitioners and settings. The goals of Equal Start are that:
Equal Start constitutes the fourth strand of Together for Better, the funding model for early learning and care and school-age childcare and complements the Early Childhood Care and Education programme, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), and Core Funding as well as other key policies that also support disadvantaged children within early learning and care and school-age childcare.