Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman and Members of the Seanad for providing me with the opportunity to update the House on my plans for strengthening the quality of early years education. I realise I am speaking following a very historic debate because that very important Bill is initiated in the Seanad.

At the outset, I wish to recognise the contribution that early years practitioners are making to our society. Each and every day they support the educational, physical and social development of our youngest children and I place a huge value on that work. I am committed to engaging with and finding ways to support those working in early years settings, so that together we can further strengthen the quality of early years education.

As Minister for Education and Skills, I am determined to ensure that early years education is viewed as a central element of the overall education continuum. Many stakeholders would argue that the early years is the most important part of this continuum. High quality education at this stage helps each child to develop and learn at this vital early stage and lays the foundations for future educational achievement and success. Early years education affords us an opportunity to ensure that we level the playing field for everyone so that no child gets left behind at the start. All of our children can avail of free early childhood education through the free preschool year. The popularity of this option among parents is clearly apparent, with 96% of the eligible cohort now availing of the free preschool year. This means that any improvement in the quality of early years education has the potential to benefit the vast majority of our young children.

As a former Montessori teacher who ran my own preschool for a number of years, I am very aware of the positive benefits of early years education, both for the individual child and for society as a whole. It is, therefore, absolutely essential to provide high quality early years education. If we do not get things right from the start by establishing strong foundations in terms of positive learning dispositions and basic skills development, we will need to spend more of our time and resources playing catch-up later. This is why I have made early years education one of my key priorities as Minister for Education and Skills.

The education sector, including the early years sector, is playing a crucial role in our economic recovery and in contributing to future sustainable economic growth. Equally important, education also plays a vital part in building a better society for us all. By promoting inclusivity and diversity, the education system can help to build a society that is truly representative of the many different communities now living in this country.

In my capacity as Minister, my first priority is to achieve greater investment in education as a whole and there has been some progress in this regard. In the budget I secured the first increase in education spending in recent years. While the level of increase was modest - a €60 million increase over 2014 spending - it has allowed us to stop the reduction in education spending. It has also allowed us to provide the teachers and funding necessary to support the growth in student numbers in our schools. Securing the funding is one challenge but it is equally important to ensure that this funding is supporting quality educational outcomes. To this end, my Department is currently involved in a major programme of reform across the education continuum with the objective of supporting a system that responds to the needs of modern society and that promotes positive outcomes for all of our learners.

This programme of reform encompasses measures such as the following: the continued implementation of the literacy and numeracy strategy; the continued roll-out of junior cycle reform; the measures adopted under the further education strategy; the higher education strategy; and a renewed focus on apprenticeship training.

I have also sought to extend this reform agenda into the early years sector. Since my appointment as Minister, I have made a number of significant announcements regarding early years education. This includes the establishment of an early years education advisory group and is the first time such a group has been convened to advise the Minister for Education and Skills. The group will provide advice on education issues across the entire early years sector, covering children from ages zero to six, and will report to me twice a year. It will also co-ordinate existing education-related activity within the early years sector, identify means by which the quality of early years education can be strengthened, and ensure that the early years are integrated into the overall education continuum. I have sought to ensure that major organisations working in the sector, including Start Strong, Early Childhood Ireland and Barnardos, are included in the membership of the advisory group. I also recognise the importance of associations and unions representing those working in the sector, and the Association of Childhood Professionals, the INTO and IMPACT will also be represented. It will never be possible to include every organisation or individual with an interest in this area, but I intend that the group will regularly organise plenary sessions through which a much broader range of voices can be heard.

I have also announced that we will begin an important review of the education and training programmes leading to qualifications in early years care and education. The review will help to ensure that such programmes equip graduates with the skills, knowledge and dispositions to support quality educational outcomes in early years settings. The extent to which early years practitioners are appropriately qualified is recognised internationally as an important factor in determining the quality of early years education.

The review will begin with a public consultation which I hope to launch shortly. I encourage anyone with an interest in early years education to submit their views as part of the consultation process. As well as carrying out a general consultation we will also be conducting stakeholder-specific surveys. These surveys are intended to elicit the views of education institutions delivering programmes, early years practitioners who hold these qualifications, and employers of early years practitioners. In addition to these new initiatives my Department also continues to provide additional support to those in disadvantaged communities through the Early Start preschool programme.

Early Start has been a flagship initiative of my Department for the past 20 years. Last summer, we published a focused policy assessment of the programme, the recommendations of which were discussed with staff from all 40 Early Start units in November of last year. Progress with the implementation of those recommendations will be made in 2015 in close consultation with these key stakeholders. This will ensure Early Start continues to serve the needs of some of our most vulnerable children and their parents.

I would like to use this opportunity to highlight the opportunities for the early years to inform developments in other parts of the education continuum. My Department, in conjunction with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, is in the process of revising the primary school curriculum. Priority has been given to the development of a new integrated language curriculum and a new mathematics curriculum. As part of this reform, measures are being taken to strengthen the links between early years education and infant classes in primary schools. In particular, we are ensuring the key principles of Aistear, the early childhood curriculum framework, inform practice in infant classes.

I am committed to continuing to work closely with the Minister, Deputy Reilly, on the broader quality agenda in the early years sector. We have worked closely together on the creation of Better Start, the new national early years quality support service. Better Start is adopting a model that has worked very well in the school system, where support services have facilitated innovation and supported improvements in quality for many years. The work of Better Start in engaging with early years providers will be supported by a new practice guide that will distil key principles from Aistear and from Síolta, the national early years quality framework.

The practice guide, which is being finalised by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, will be an important resource tool for all early years practitioners. It focuses on developing the capacity of early years educators to create and implement curriculums which adhere to the key principles, standards and guidelines contained in the two frameworks. Through the use of practical resources such as video, self-evaluation and planning tools and research digests, early years educators will be encouraged and enabled to improve the quality of their educational programme content and delivery.

I am working closely with the Minister, Deputy Reilly, on the introduction of education-focused preschool inspections for the first time. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has provided funding for dedicated early years inspectors, who will be employed alongside our school inspectors. These inspectors will work to improve and enhance educational standards within this sector. They will complement and not duplicate the type of inspections that are carried out by the Child and Family Agency, Tusla. The education-focused inspections will be developed in close collaboration and consultation with the early years sector. We will make every effort to ensure we do not create unnecessary administrative burdens for our early years settings. We will work to make sure these inspections help to support improvement in the sector. Recruitment for the dedicated early years inspectors will begin in the spring. We will work with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to implement the education-related commitments in the new national early years strategy, which is currently being developed by that Department.

I am grateful for the opportunity today to further strengthening the quality of early years education. I have identified some of the major reforms and initiatives that are already under way or are planned. I hope Senators will agree that this amounts to an ambitious programme of reform. I would like to conclude by emphasising that in progressing this reform agenda, we will be working in close consultation with the early years sector. Indeed, I have met many of the groups at this stage. I have the utmost respect for those who work in and support this vital sector. My intention, and that of my Department, is to ensure we support early years practitioners in continuing to provide quality educational outcomes for all our children.