Labour pledges pre-school education for all

THE Labour Party has promised pre-school education for every child if it gets into government.

In a policy document on measures to tackle educational disadvantage, the party said the issue must be addressed as part of a strategy to reduce poverty.

Labour Party education spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan said the system had failed to counteract disadvantage for thousands of young people every year. Almost one-in-five teenagers leaves school before doing the Leaving Certificate, despite numerous government initiatives over the last decade.

Experts believe the key to tackling the problem is to help those most at risk at the earliest possible stage. The Labour Party said that, if in government, it would guarantee a one-year pre-school place for all children over the age of three.

“This would provide every child with a firm foundation before they begin formal primary education and children in areas of greatest disadvantage would be entitled to extended pre-school time each day,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

Also proposed is a categorisation of schools to identify the particular needs of each one and target resources and staff accordingly. The Labour Party would provide schools with the most urgent needs with guaranteed reduced pupil-teacher ratios for younger pupils, a classroom assistant in each class, improved home school community liaison (HSCL) services and literacy support programmes.

Pupils of 600 schools are benefiting from a €500,000 government initiative to develop literacy skills this Christmas. During a visit to one of them, St Laurence O’Toole’s Junior Boys and Infant Girls school in Dublin’s inner city, Education Minister Mary Hanafin said the aim is to promote a culture of reading at home.

Ms Hanafin is expected to announce a series of new measures to tackle educational disadvantage and some changes to schemes early next year.