THE REPUBLIC is near bottom of the latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) league table on the provision of early childhood education.
A new report shows that participation rates for three-year-olds in early childhood education in the State are among the lowest in the countries studied.
Slightly more than 2 per cent of Irish three-year-olds are in State- subsidised pre-primary school education. This compares with 100 per cent of children in Italy and France. In most countries there is a right to early childhood education from age three.
The report also underlines the high cost of childcare in the State. On average, childcare absorbs up to 51 per cent of the disposable income available to a dual-income family, compared with an average of about 30 per cent across the 12 OECD states in the report.
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) said the report showed Government thought “early childhood education is nothing to do with the State”. General secretary of the INTO John Carr said Government policy to date has been to provide cash subsidies to parents to provide pre-school education. “The recent Budget slashed that funding leaving Irish parents with the worst of all possible worlds.
“There is substantially less financial support for parents and no State infrastructure for early childhood education,” he said.
The report shows that female participation in the workplace is closely linked to the availability of early childhood education.
It also also shows that early childhood education is needed to address issues of child poverty and educational disadvantage. Irish child poverty rates are among the highest in rich countries.
According to the report, early childhood services are particularly important for children with diverse learning rights, whether from physical, mental or sensory disabilities or from disadvantage.
In the Republic, the report states there is “no national plan to provide from birth, public interventions in favour of children with disabilities”. It shows how children are included in infant classes but with insufficient support to provide appropriate access.
Mr Carr described Government proposals to replace the childcare subsidy with State provision as “a con job”. There is no infrastructure and a shortage of trained personnel, he said.