Early Child Education
Early childhood education in Ireland generally means education before the start of formal schooling or before the age at which children are generally required to attend school. Legislation on school attendance requires children to be at school (or receiving an education) from the age of 6. In practice, almost all 5-year-olds and about half of the 4-year-olds actually attend primary schools.There is very limited public provision for early childhood education. The Irish Department of Education and Science's involvement in early childhood education has focussed principally on pilot interventions for children who are disadvantaged or have special needs. A number of other departments are also involved in early child education services, some of which have an educational component.
Children under 4 with Special Needs
The Visiting Teacher Service of the Department of Education and Science provides a service to young children with visual and/or hearing impairment, from the age of 2 years.The Health Service Executive (HSE) Areas and/or voluntary bodies provide services for young children with severe or profound disabilities. The services are provided in Child Education and Development Centres and are generally run by a Clinical Director and staffed by nurses with a mental handicap qualification, with teaching inputs supplied typically by Montessori-trained teachers. Play therapists are also employed in some of these centres.
Nursery Schools, Crèches and Playgroups
These are generally privately or community run and financed by parents. In some cases, there may be some public funding, for example, from HSE Areas or FÁS. All of these forms of child care provision are subject to the requirements of the Child Care Act.Primary Education
Children starting school can attend national/primary schools, which are state aided and do not charge fees, or they can attend one of a small number of private primary schools, which do not get any state funding and which charge fees. The vast majority of children attend the state-aided national or primary schools.The rules about school attendance apply from age 6. In practice, nearly all 5-year-olds are at school and about half of the country's 4-year-olds also attend school. Children may not be enrolled at national school before the age of 4.
There are various early education or pre-school facilities available but they are largely private and fees have to be paid. There is a system of regulation of these facilities under the Child Care Act. There are some state funded pre-school facilities, which are largely for children who are disadvantaged or have special needs.
Primary Child Education Types
National schools/primary schools
The national school system was established in 1831. The national schools were originally meant to be mixed religion or multi-denominational as we would describe them today. In practice, that did not happen and virtually all national schools are under the management of one church.Multi-denominational
Multi-denominational schools sometimes include that description in their title.Some national schools are run by religious orders - they are sometimes called convent or monasteryschools. They operate under the same rules as other national schools except for some special rules relating to the appointment of principals and the choice of teacher representatives on the Board of Management.
Private primary schools
Private primary schools receive no state support nor are they subject to state control in relation to curriculum, school day, school year, etc. There is a limited element of state assessment of private schools because of the requirement that the state ensure that children receive a certain minimum education.Admissions Policy
All national schools are obliged to publish a school plan that describes their ethos, admissions policy and objectives.The admissions policy of most national schools is fairly straightforward - they give priority to children from their local area, which, for denominational schools, is usually the local parish. Admissions problems can arise in expanding areas where the school cannot cope with extra numbers. Schools run by the minority religions usually give priority to their co-religionists. The admissions policy for multi-denominational schools and gaelscoileanna is decided by each school.
We hope this was a useful guide to the early child education system in Ireland. Information is from "www.oasis.gov.ie"
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