Pre-school education must be available to all, say teachers

THE Government must make quality early childhood education available to all children next year, teachers have claimed.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) said that, despite research and consultation, the Government has failed to introduce legislation and regulations for pre-school education. "The funding has not been provided and a blind eye has been turned to the increasing disadvantage of those locked outside the private provision," INTO general secretary John Carr said.

He said an integrated approach to early childhood education must be developed in 2005.

"There must be public investment to ensure that universal access is a right. There needs to be a major investment in training and the development of a coherent long term plan for the sector."

Under a Department of Education pilot scheme in disadvantaged areas, children can spend a number of hours a week in their local primary school learning basic skills and preparing them for formal education. However, outside this initiative, there is little or no State provision for early childhood education.

A Labour Party policy document on tackling educational disadvantage this week promises pre-school places for every child over the age of three.

The INTO said priority should be placed on providing places for children from poorer backgrounds who have been found to fall behind their better-off counterparts by first class.

"Bringing three-year-olds into the primary school will provide an opportunity to fully develop early childhood education. Children whose parents can afford to provide early childhood education do better in the early years, making it is a major social inclusion measure," Mr Carr said.

He added that public spending on pre-schools is a tiny fraction of the average in European and other developed countries, but that the necessary funding is affordable in a country which continues to get richer.

The INTO said the issue could be progressed by urgently debating the best way forward with political leadership and provision of resources from the Government. "We must build up capacity in the system where there are shortages, particularly in rural Ireland, Mr Carr said.