Welcome to the first - pilot - edition of a new e-newsletter from
Start Strong. The aim of the e-newsletter, which we plan to
publish every 1 to 2 months, is to provide an update on policy and research
developments - both in Ireland and internationally - on the care and
education of young children. This new e-newsletter replaces our existing e-bulletin, which we are discontinuing.
If you have any feedback, either on the format (is it easy to read?)
or content (how could it be more useful?), please let us know. We are
keen to hear your suggestions - please email us.
Research on the future of early care and education in Ireland
During 2010, Start Strong will carry out research on the costs and
benefits of developing a comprehensive system of universal, affordable,
high quality care and education for young children in Ireland. As part
of our campaign for a 10-year national plan for early care and
education (Children 2020), we hope that this research will provide a firm evidence base for our advocacy activities.
The research will be in 2 phases. Phase 1, which will take place
between now and the summer, will involve specifying policy proposals
that should be included in a 10-year national plan. It will involve a
consultation process with stakeholders and policy-makers. Phase 2,
which will take place in the second half of the year, will involve
examining the costs and benefits of implementing the policy proposals
identified in Phase 1.
To mark the beginning of the Free Pre-School Year scheme, on 12th
January the health supplement of the Irish Times interviewed our
Director, Ciairín de Buis, about the need for the Government to look
beyond the free pre-school year and to develop a national plan for
early childhood. Read the full article here.
We don't yet know how large has been the uptake of the Free
Pre-School Year. There is some anecdotal evidence that the numbers may
be lower than anticipated. If so, this may reflect both the level of
awareness among parents, and the fact that some service providers have
chosen not to join the scheme at this stage. The experience with
similar schemes in other countries (e.g. UK, New Zealand) suggests,
however, that the uptake is likely to increase in the coming years.
Start Strong's primary concerns, however, lie not so much with the
take-up rate as with the quality of care and education offered in some
services, and with the fact the scheme only provides one year of
support for each child.
While the year before school is of crucial importance, children's
learning and development begin long before then. There is a pressing
need for a new policy focus in Ireland on children under 3 years old -
to support their care and education both in services (both centre-based
services and childminders) and in the home.
And quality is of crucial importance - not just in the Free
Pre-School Year, but in all care and education for young children. It
is very positive that funding in the Free Pre-School Year is tied to
the Síolta quality framework and to the qualification level of staff.
But these requirements must be seen as steps along a road - a road on
which there is still a long way to travel before we achieve high
quality in all services.
That said, Start Strong very much welcomes the Free Pre-School Year. Our Post-Budget Analysis last April pointed to several valuable features of the scheme. We hope that future policy development will build on these strengths.
A
new EU directive on parental leave was agreed by the Council of
Ministers on 30 November 2009, which will replace the 1996 directive.
After it is formally adopted, Member States will have 2 years to
turn the directive into national law.
In Ireland, a significant change will be a right to longer leave,
with each working parent having a right to 4 months' parental leave per
child, up from 14 weeks at present. The directive will also introduce a
right for employees returning from parental leave to request flexible
working and/or reduced hours for a set period of time. And to promote
gender equality in caring, one month of the parental leave will be
strictly non-transferable between the parents (though in Ireland
parental leave is currently only transferable where parents are
employed by the same employer).
Unfortunately one of the most significant limitations of parental
leave in Ireland - the fact that it is unpaid - will not be affected by
the new directive. The directive leaves to Member States the question
of payment. This will undoubtedly reduce the impact of the directive,
as payment is a key factor in determining whether parents - especially
fathers - actually take up their parental leave entitlement. The
directive also won't address the fact that in Ireland - unlike in most
of the rest of Europe - there is still no statutory provision for
paternity leave.
Start Strong will monitor the transposition of the new directive
into Irish law, and will push for further development of legislation in
this area. Read the new EU directive here.
A recent magazine from the Bernard van Leer Foundation, timed to
coincide with the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child (UNCRC) in 2009, examines progress and challenges in
realising the rights of young children.
From an Irish perspective, the magazine's importance lies
particularly in a series of articles which highlight the importance of
'General Comment No.7', which the UN Committee on the Rights of the
Child issued in 2005 to provide authoritative guidance on how
children's rights apply in early childhood.
One new initiative discussed in the magazine is the development of a
set of indicators for monitoring country performance in early childhood
rights. The indicators and a user manual, being developed by the Early
Childhood Rights Indicators Group (an international network), are
currently at the pilot stage. Read the magazine here.
Call for a new vision for early care and education in New Zealand
There are many parallels between the ambitions of Start Strong in
Ireland and those of a network of early years organisations in New
Zealand (the Quality Public Early Childhood Education Group), which
recently published a report on the need for New Zealand to develop a
new, comprehensive, long-term vision for universal, quality early
childhood education.
In many ways New Zealand has already progressed much further than
Ireland, with the launch in 2002 of a 10-year national plan for early
childhood education, 'Pathways to the Future'. The plan committed to
full professionalisation of the workforce, with 100% of regulated staff
in centre-based services to be registered teachers by 2012. Free
pre-school provision did not form part of the plan, but was
subsequently introduced, and on a larger scale than in Ireland, with
every child entitled to 20 free hours per week for 2 years.
Disappointingly, the new QPECE report points to limitations in the
implementation of the 10-year national plan. (The New Zealand
Government recently decided to scale back its commitment to full
professionalisation.) The report also notes how the 10-year plan did
not provide for sufficient planning to ensure the availability of
appropriate early childhood education services in all areas of the
country, and in this context the report calls for strengthening of
community-based service provision in particular.
There are important lessons for Ireland: a national plan must be
comprehensive and ambitious, and it must be monitored to ensure that it
is implemented in full. Read the full report here.
Attitudes towards family-related leave for fathers in Ireland
A research project is currently under way at Trinity College Dublin into attitudes towards family-related leave for fathers in Ireland (paternity leave, parental leave and 'split' maternity leave). The researchers are urgently seeking organisations in the community / voluntary sector and in the private sector in which to run an online survey among employees (both male and female) in February / March.
The project is attempting to assess whether there is support for fathers' leave (among both men and women) and on what terms. It is also identifying potential barriers to the take-up of family-related leave by parents. If your organisation, or an organisation you know about, would be interested in taking part in the survey, please email Professor Eileen Drew by Friday 5th February.
The final report of a US Government impact study of the Head Start
programme has just been published. The study warrants careful analysis
as its findings seem to suggest that the Head Start programme's effects
are modest and largely fade out by the time children complete 1st grade
in school (6-7 years old). But care is needed in drawing conclusions.
Firstly, methodological issues suggest caution in assessing the
findings. Secondly, the findings may say more about the Head Start
programme itself than the likely impact of pre-school programmes in
other countries.
Head Start, which is a federal programme in the US running since
1965, provides children from disadvantaged backgrounds with a
combination of pre-school, health promotion and supports for their
parents.
Methodologically, the impact study was a randomised control trial
that compared children in Head Start with children from similar
backgrounds who were not in the programme. But about 60% of the
'control group' were in other pre-school programmes, which may have
been of equal or higher quality than Head Start. So the study assessed
the impact of Head Start itself rather than of pre-school in general.
And even supporters of Head Start note its variable quality at local
level. The Obama administration, which supports Head Start as part of
its strategy of increasing investment in early childhood education, is
planning a series of measures to raise quality within the programme.
From an Irish perspective, one of the main lessons must be that
quality really matters - research that has examined other pre-school
programmes that are undoubtedly of high quality has found large
benefits for children. What is also interesting in an Irish context is
that the study shows significantly better outcomes for children who
entered Head Start at age 3, with up to 2 years of support available,
than for those who entered at age 4 and only had 1 year available. A
case, perhaps, for extending our own Free Pre-School Year to a second
year?
A new report from the Commission for Rural Communities in the UK
explores some of the challenges of living in rural areas, and examines
in particular the difficulty in accessing children's services.
The report, titled 'Peace and Quiet Disadvantage', is based on
research in 4 rural areas in England and involved interviews with
parents and professionals involved in the 4 Children's Centres. Parents
who were interviewed expressed many experiences that would be shared in
rural communities in Ireland: quality of life benefits on the one hand,
but challenges in accessing services (such as healthcare, education,
childcare and employment), particularly for those who lack private
transport.
The report looks at the particular model of integrated Children's
Centres that are being rolled out across the UK and offer a mix of
childcare and early education, parenting supports and health promotion.
Interviewees noted strengths of the Children's Centre model in rural
areas, with outreach, help for families with transport, satellite
venues, mobile facilities and home visiting. The main disadvantage
noted by many parents was the lack of flexibility in centres' opening
times to match parents' working hours, and lack of holiday care and
after-school clubs. Read the summary report here.
On 25 January the Children's Rights Alliance launched its Report
Card for 2010. The Report Card provides an annual assessment of how the
Government is delivering on its commitments to children in the areas of
education, health, material well-being and safeguarding childhood.
While the overall rating given to the Government this year is D-, in
the area of early childhood education and care its score is B- (up from
E last year), reflecting the announcement of the Free Pre-School Year
last April. While the Children's Rights Alliance praises the Government
for introducing the scheme, they caution that resources must be
dedicated to ensuring high quality provision, and that there is a need
for a comprehensive, rights-based, 10-year national plan for early
childhood education and care. Read the Report Card 2010 here.
On Wednesday 3 February, the National Children's Nurseries
Association (NCNA) will launch its annual members' survey, this year
titled 'Irish Childcare in Recession?' The report will be launched by
George Hook and will take place at 1pm at Buswell's Hotel, Molesworth
Street, Dublin 2. The report will analyse the changing costs and
patterns of usage of childcare in Ireland today. To attend, or for
further information, contact Camille Daly at NCNA by email or on 01-4601138, ext.4.
Conference on diversity in early care and education
On Thursday 25 February, EDENN (the Equality and Diversity Early Childhood National Network) will be holding a conference on working together to support diversity in early childhood care and education. The conference, titled 'We Make the Road by Walking', will be held in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin, and will last from 10.30 to 4.30. The conference aims to link Siolta, Aistear, and the Diversity and Equality Guidelines for Providers. Contact Cork City Childcare on 021-4507942 or www.pavee.ie/edenn for a booking form (available from 3 February).
The European Early Childhood Education Research Association will be
holding its 20th annual conference from 5th-8th September in
Birmingham, England. The deadline for submission of proposals for
conference papers is 22nd February. Full details are available here.
