Unannounced pre-school inspections to begin in autumn

Unannounced inspections of how children are being taught in pre-school settings will begin in the autumn, six years after taxpayers started investing over €170m a year on free provision.

The system will be piloted at a number of early years settings which are taking part in the Government’s early childhood care and education (ECCE) scheme.

It is planned that reports of one-day inspections will be published on the Department of Education website. Recruitment begins this week for a team of inspectors who will be attached to the department’s schools inspectorate. That is a departure from previous plans that the educational aspect of work in the ECCE sector would be added to the work of health inspectors already assessing standards of safety and care.