1.2.3 The Early Childhood Care and Education programme

1.2.3 The Early Childhood Care and Education programme

Figure from page 15

All eligible children are entitled to avail of up to two full academic years on the Early Childhood Care and Education programme

While DCEDIY funding schemes support the participation of children in ELC and SAC from the age of 6 months to the age of 14 years, this report focuses on children’s experience in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which, during the period covered by this report, was the aspect of ELC provision inspected by the Department of Education Inspectorate.

2 Expert Group First 5 Funding Model (2021) Partnership for the Public Good: A New Funding Model for Early Learning and Care and School Age Settings - Report of the Expert Group to develop a new funding model for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare (2021). Available at: https://first5fundingmodel.gov.ie/publications-2/ 3 Government of Ireland (2021) Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care (ELC and School-Age Childcare (SAC), 2022-2028. Available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/97056-nurturing-skills-the-workforce-plan-for-earlylearning-and-care-elc-and-school-age-childcare-sac-2022-2028/ 4 For example, a Joint Labour Committee for Early Years Services was established in 2021. See https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2021/si/292/made/en/print Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (2021) The National Action Plan for Childminding 2021- 2028. Available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/df207-national-action-plan-for-childminding-2021-2028/ OECD (2021) Strengthening Early Childhood Education and Care in Ireland: Review on sector quality. Available at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/strengthening-early-childhood-education-and-care-in-ireland_72fab7d1-en

The ECCE programme was launched in 2010 offering 38 weeks of early learning and care to all eligible children. In 2016 and again in 2018, the offer of free pre-school was extended and, since then, children can start this programme when they are 2 years and 8 months of age and avail of it for two years, provided that they are not older than 5 years and 6 months at the end of their participation in the programme.

ECCE provides children with their first formal experience of early learning prior to commencing primary school. The programme provides important development opportunities to all young children, in particular children from disadvantaged backgrounds and children with disabilities. The programme has a 95% uptake rate, with almost 40% of low-income families having said they would not have been able to enrol their child in pre-school had it not been for this programme. Since 2016, more than 5,000 children with disabilities are being supported to participate in ECCE each year through the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM). In the 2019/2020 programme year, there were 4,398 services contracted to provide the ECCE programme nationally. In 2020/2021, approximately 105,000 children were enrolled on the ECCE programme (attending either their first or second year).

At the time of publication of this report, plans were in place for a review of the ECCE programme to inform its further evolution and as a precursor to putting the programme on a statutory footing and introducing a universal legal entitlement to pre-school, in line with a commitment in First 5.