Pre-schools facing unannounced inspections after summer

The quality of education being provided at pre-schools will be assessed for the first time after the summer under a new inspection regime.

The Department of Education and Skills said it planned to carry out unannounced, one-day inspections from Autumn 2015 on a number of service providers in the Government's Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) scheme.

Under the pilot phase, pre-schools will be invited to give their views on the new form of inspection as it is being developed.

The education-focused inspections will complement the regulatory inspections carried out by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, which examines quality of care, infrastructure and staffing levels.

Tusla inspections are already published on pobal.ie, while the educational inspections will be published on the department website education.ie, taking the form of a written report on the quality of educational provision.

The inspections will focus on compliance with the two early childhood curriculum frameworks Aistear and Síolta, which address learning and development issues for children from birth to six years.

Key groups and individuals working in the early years sector were briefed on the plans on Tuesday by senior officials.

A recruitment competition for positions as early years inspectors will be advertised by the Public Appointments Service on Friday, May 29th.

Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan, who worked in the pre-school sector before entering politics, said €600,000 would be spent this year on “the immediate recruitment of the first ever team of early childhood education inspectors.

“This consultation will give us the opportunity to make sure that this team will work with the early childhood sector to promote good educational practice.”

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs James Reilly said: "The introduction of education-focused inspections is an essential element of improving the quality of early-years education, alongside the introduction of the 'Better Start' support service which will send mentors into childcare facilities to help them improve the quality of care and education."

Children attending pre-schools under ECCE programme are entitled to one free-school year under an initiative which is costing the Department of Children and Youth Affairs €175 million in 2015.

Currently, there are over 4,000 early childhood settings under the scheme, which was introduced in 2010.