Critically evaluate the impact of current policy in Irish ECEC with reference to at least three topics

Introduction

The Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector is relatively new in Ireland compared to other countries, the rise of ECEC sectors began in the 1980’s after the marriage bar was lifted for women in the public service in 1973. This allowed women who had children to enter the workforce and their obliged role was no longer to stay at home (Flood & Hardy, 2013). Before the uplifting of the marriage bar, young children stayed at home and were cared for by their mothers or close family relatives. When first developed, the pre-school service was typically targeted towards children with disabilities and from disadvantaged areas. the ECEC sector was in a poor state because for many years the sector was unregulated and staff had poor working conditions (Flood & Hardy, 2013). It remains to have issues as ECEC in Ireland continues to be a split system and the government views care as a matter that should be taken care of within the home. Having a split system leads to a split governance as two different groups in Ireland deal with different matters. DCYA focuses on care in ECEC whereas DES focuses on the Education aspect. This has a negative impact due to the divide between what is considered child care and early education. The split system tends to emphasis care for the younger children and early education for the older children putting a huge emphasis on the early learning provided which is viewed necessary for a smooth transition from pre-school to primary school (Bertram and Pascal, 2016). Policy plays an important role in education as it provides structure while establishing rules, standards and procedures that try to ensure quality education. In the past decade Ireland has put a huge emphasis into creating policies that impact the ECEC sector.

The achievement of a variety of young children’s rights

One of the first forms of policy was created in 1924 when the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child was published to promote children’s rights. The declaration set out five simple principles of the basic rights of the child in terms of protecting the child and promoting development. It was also made clear that the responsibility of children’s care and protection was not exclusive to family, the world as a whole recognises the importance of the child and the duty each person must have an interest in the child without discrimination (childrensrights, 2018). This declaration was important as it was the first policy that set out children’s rights and the responsibility adults have to provide the child with their basic needs such as food, water, shelter, education and protection. It made other organisations realise the importance of a child’s development which has ultimately led to the achievement of a variety of young children’s rights. Although the Geneva Declaration is seen as outdated now, the United Nations (UN) organisation replaced the League of Nations in 1945 and recommended an expansion to be made on the five principles that the declaration had originally set out to achieve. The drafting of the new declaration involved a range of different options and involved many different governments from around the world. In 1959 the UN created a new Declaration of the Rights of the Child, keeping similar content of the Geneva Declarations but including ten principles instead. On the 20th November 1989, The Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) was approved by the UN’s General Assembly. This date has now been embraced as Universal Children’s Day every year (childrensrights,2018).

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 Over the decades, children’s rights have gone through multiple political discussions and changes, particularly since the widespread ratification of the 1989 United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which Ireland ratified in 1992 (Hayes & Bradley, 2009). Before approving the UNCRC, in 1991 Ireland implemented The Child Care Act 1991 which is a comprehensive piece of legislation which aims to protect children who are receiving inadequate care. This legislation looks at the child’s care and protection from all bodies and not just within childcare. Until the 1991 act was implemented, legislation regarding children’s rights was the 1908 Children’s act. Part VII of The Childcare Act looks at children’s rights in relation to pre-school and stated that settings who provide pre-school services must comply with regulations and each person working in the setting has the duty to “take all reasonable measures to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of pre-school children”. This act has an impact on ECEC as each member of staff must be aware of the child’s rights and make sure to follow their duties imposed under this section of the Act. If a practitioner feels the child is not receiving adequate care and has reason to believe so, this issue must be reported to Tulsa.

 Although these rights are set in place, Catarina Tomás (2008) suggested that Ireland is “still, very far from an ideal situation in terms of respect for these rights”. Within Ireland there is still policy issues that need additional work such as issues with inclusion, children living in poor living conditions and the condition of Early Childhood Education settings (Tomás, 2008). Article twenty-seven under the UNCRC states that “every child has the right to a standard of living that is good enough to meet their physical, social and mental needs. Governments must help families who cannot afford to provide this”. According to Social Justice Ireland’s 2016 general election briefing on children and young people over 213,000 (18.6%) of children in Ireland are at risk of poverty while 414,000 (36.1%) of children in Ireland are experiencing deprivation. As well as that, 128,000 children are in consistent poverty. This crisis has an impact on ECEC in Ireland as children in this situation may be unable to attend pre-school weekly with such inconsistency in their lives. Pre-school services in Ireland are among the highest costs in the OECD (OECD, 2011). To rectify this problem, public funding costs would allow more children to attend full time pre-school instead of just thirty-eight hours that is provided through the ECEC scheme. Looking at other countries across the OECD who address the issue of family’s income and wealth by providing families with public funding such as Sweden, there is evidence of huge improvement and impact on ECEC as it ranks second across the OECD. Public funding covers 91% of the costs with the parents covering 9% of the fees for kindergarten. High levels of attendance can be seen in Sweden as 86% of children aged 2-3 and 91% of children aged 3-4 attend these settings. These entitlements allow all children to enter an early years setting making it accessible no matter the circumstances. This could be of huge benefit to Ireland and create major impact in relation to children’s right to education.

As mentioned earlier by Catarina Tomás (2008), Ireland isn’t fully meeting the ideal in relation to children’s rights under the topic of inclusion. Article 30 explains that “every child has the right to learn and use the language, customs and religion of their family, whether or not these are shared by the majority of the people in the country where they live”, however for centuries there is clear evidence that members of the travelling community are discriminated against in the school environment and in a wider context. There is approximately 12,000 traveller children in Ireland and these children experience exclusion daily and are subject to disadvantages in development and more than often in education too (Pavee Point, 2002). Ireland highlighted the issue of diversity and inclusion in the National Children’s strategy, but research done from Pavee Point shows that the discrimination is continuing to happen. If children learn from an early age to value and respect diversity, children will grow up to be positive contributions to society. To do this, settings must develop and comply to policies and practices that ensure all children are included and their differences are embraced (Rodgers & Willmot, 2011)

The inclusion of children with special educational needs in early childhood care and education settings.

In reviewing the history of children with special educational needs in Ireland, it is clear that there has been major developments in the inclusion of children with special needs and an overall change in societal views and attitudes. Throughout the 19th Century, children with a disability were seen to only need medical attention and the government did not think it was necessary for them to have any education. Swan (2000) discussed the progress of special needs education in Ireland and described it in three categories “the era of neglect and denial, the era of special school and the era of integration or inclusion”. The small minority of schools set up for children with special needs were set up and run by religious orders such as St. Mary’s School for Deaf Girls in Cabra (Flood, 2013). Due to almost all educational settings in the 20th century being run by religious orders, there was little legislation protecting the provision of special needs children in Ireland. During the 1980’s, change in societal views changed as a campaign started for integration of children with special needs into mainstream schools and by 1993, over two thousand children with special needs were attending mainstream schools (Flood, 2013). Today there are over one hundred and forty special schools in Ireland which cater to a range of different disabilities and special needs, however less than 1% of students attend these types of schools (National Council for Special Education, 2013). While these schools exist, many children integrate into mainstream schools and can get additional help from special needs assistants which can be one-on-one classes, or a child can attend a low pupil to teacher ratio class depending on the help needed.

The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 defines a special educational need as a “restriction in the capacity of the person to participate in and benefit from education on account of an enduring physical sensory, mental health or learning disability or any other condition which results in a person learning differently from a person without that condition” (Government of Ireland, 2018). This act explains that children who have special needs have the right and opportunity to learn with children who do not have any additional needs (National council for special education, 2013). The EPSEN act also states that children with special educational needs should benefit from an inclusive education and should be provided with the necessary skills and education in order to develop to their best ability and to be able to live independently (Government of Ireland, 2018). However, it is notable that the EPSEN act doesn’t mention early years education which may allow for gaps in the system if a service fails to comply in making their services inclusive for children with disabilities. Similarly, The Disability Act 2005 places a compulsory obligation on public service providers to support accessibility for people with disabilities and entitles them to have an assessment on their health and educational needs (Government of Ireland, 2018). Likewise, the phrasing of this policy allows for loopholes in the system as majority of ECEC services are privately owned which means these settings are not obliged to support accessibility to their services.

 In relation to early childhood education, the 1999 Ready to Learn white paper focused on the importance early childhood education has on early intervention and the approach being taken to improve the quality of care and education for children. This includes providing families with an early education expert which will advise best teaching practices, support services, ensuring that all teachers have knowledge and skills to work with children with special needs, looking at the curriculum and adapting it to suit the child and making induction and post-graduate courses available to those who aim to work specifically with children with special needs. These approaches being made have an impact on ECEC as it will ensure high quality education and inclusion to all regardless of their disabilities.

In recent years there has been major changes in policy allowing all children to be included in early years settings. One of the most effective policies was introduced in June 2016. The department for Children and Youth affairs introduced the new Access and Inclusion (AIM) model which gives better access to children with special needs who want to attend pre-school services. Each year the model funds up to 900 places to allow the children to fully participate in the ECEC program without any barriers. The model includes seven levels of support that the parents or guardian can apply to for additional help without requiring a formal diagnosis of the child’s disability (Aim.gov, 2016). Levels one to three look at providing information for the parents and providers, promoting inclusion and guaranteeing that the setting has a qualified workforce. Parents or guardians can work in partnership and apply for levels 4-7 if any further support is necessary. Part of AIM includes the diversity, equality and inclusion charter which provides guidelines and best practices for those working in ECEC.

The provision of quality early childhood education and care

Early Childhood Education in Ireland may be relatively new compared to other countries, however there is an on-going process and interest in trying to improve the standards of quality at both a national and international level (Hayes, 2006). The Child Care Act 1991 was the first legislation put in place regarding quality in ECEC. This act provided regulation and inspection of ECEC settings in Ireland. Following on, in 1996 the Child Care (Pre-school Services) regulations was created which focused on requirements for the physical environment, health, safety and well-being measures in relation to children from birth to six years old who attend pre-school services. These standards also gave providers an indication of the standards for sleeping routines, nutrition and child to adult ratios. However, the policy had limitations and didn’t include information on staff training or child outcomes (Hayes, 2006). Research done on high quality education has proved it has an immediate and long-term effect on the child. The High Scope Perry Preschool Study proved the long-term benefits quality ECEC has on development as each child showed positive development, increased economic performance and was less likely to be involved in crime compared to children who didn’t attend any form of ECEC. (Hayes, 2006) Quality in ECEC helps enhance the child’s development regarding their social, emotional, cognitive and language development (Start Strong, 2018). According to the Edward Melhuish (2004), international research has found the following aspects key to quality education; adult-child interactions, highly trained staff, small child to adult ratios and an appropriate curriculum for development. For many years in Ireland there was no policies in place concerning quality and without a framework for ECEC providers to follow, poor standards and working conditions were having an impact on the quality of education and care for children (Barry, 2011).

In 2006, the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education (CECDE) worked with over fifty organisations representing a range of people and through this research CECDE developed Síolta, The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education which was designed to provide a framework for all types of settings that defines, assesses and supports quality education and care for children aged birth to six (Síolta, 2006). Síolta includes twelve principles and sixteen standards which help settings to apply Síolta into practice. The framework also includes seventy-five components which breaks the framework down and provides indicators and signposts which allow for reflection on current practice and how to constantly work at making the quality as high as possible for children (tulsa, 2018). Three years later, Aistear the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework for children aged birth to six years was introduced to work alongside Síolta. The framework provides information for the adult to create a curriculum that ensures all children can develop into “competent and confident learners” (Aistear, 2006). Aistear uses four different sections to explain the principles and themes, guidelines for good practice, user guide and key messages from research (Mhathúna & Taylor, 2012). Aistear themes aim to support the child’s: well-being, communication, identity and belonging and exploring and thinking. By using the Aistear Síolta practice guide, practitioners can use the two guides together and provide children with the best quality education and care as possible.

While these policies are helping improve ECEC, looking at the 2019 budget there was no improvement in staff wages which is a huge disappointment considering the endless amounts of research proving the importance ECEC has on the development of a child. ECEC staff are the lowest paid out of all education sectors and they receive no public funding. The average hourly rate in Ireland is €10.27 (earlychildhoodworkforce, 2018) while a secondary school teacher’s average hourly rate of pay in Ireland is €39.46 (Asti,2018). Low pay leads to high staff turnover and in many cases, practitioners are using their degree to continue onto further studies in a different area of teaching (Moloney, 2015). The first three years are the most important for a child’s cognitive, social, emotional, linguistic and motor development yet the educators are still being underpaid. The quality of learning for a child is determined by the quality of the teachers as well as the quality of the environment the children work in (Moloney, 2015).

Conclusion

Irish policy regarding ECEC has been influenced by factors such as the role of women in society and the uplifting of the marriage bar, economic growth, changes in societal views and the influences from the United Nations. The recognition of children’s rights and the importance of the child has seen a huge growth since the 1990’s and because of this a range of policies have been put in place to try improve the lives of children and their education. Although there have been major improvements in the Irish system in the past one hundred years, it could be argued that Ireland is not fully complying to the policies as there is still cases of exclusion and discrimination that often not seen by the public eye. It is crucial for the Irish government to help improve children who are living in poverty as their rights are not being completely met. Societal views on children with special needs have changed for the better and Ireland aims to ensure each child can develop to his/her best ability. In recent years quality has seen the biggest change with the help of Aistear and Síolta. Practitioners have frameworks to follow that allow children to develop at their own rates and have a curriculum that suits to their needs and having fun learning experiences at the same time. The issue concerning staff conditions has unfortunately seen no change but with different advocacy groups and organisations there is hope that there will be changes shortly in the future.

References

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