Written answers

Tuesday, 7 July 2020

Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Disability Support Services

Photo of Verona MurphyVerona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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598. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of the LINC, Leadership for INClusion in the Early Years, programme which is designed to support the inclusion of children with additional needs in the early years; when applications for funding will be reopened; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14401/20]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The goal of AIM is to support pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience for children and families. AIM is a child-centred model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, based on the needs and strengths of the child and the pre-school setting.

The LINC (Leadership for Inclusion) training programme is part of AIM. LINC is a one-year higher education programme (at Level 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications) that prepares practitioners to take on the role of Inclusion Co-ordinator in their pre-school setting. In the four years since it began in 2016/17, the LINC programme has had over 3,100 registered students. So far 2,230 practitioners have graduated from the programme, of whom more than 1,900 have gone on to be Inclusion Co-ordinators working in ECCE pre-school settings. Students from the 4th year of LINC are expected to graduate in the coming months.

My Department is currently in the final stages of a procurement process for the provision of the next three years of delivery of a Level 6 Special Purpose Award training programme for the role of Inclusion Co-ordinator. Applications for entry onto the course for the academic year 2020/21 will open following completion of the procurement process.

Settings with a qualified Inclusion Coordinator in post are eligible for additional capitation payments as part of the ECCE pre-school programme. Plans for the reopening of the ECCE and AIM programmes for the 2020/21 programme year will be announced in the coming weeks. Information on 2020/21 additional capitation for Inclusion Coordinator posts will then be made available.

Applications for funding for the 2020/21 pre-school year under AIM Levels 5 (equipment and minor alterations) and 7 (additional assistance in the pre-school room) are already open.

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