EARLY CHILDHOOD education in Ireland has been “labour market driven” and has focused on the needs of working parents rather than on the needs of children.
“Fundamental changes” in policy were needed, a conference on child wellbeing heard in Killarney yesterday.
The education of children of pre-school age had plenty of academic supporters and there was much evidence to show its vital importance for adulthood. Yet it had “no political champion”, said Dr Nóirín Hayes, a senior lecturer in the department of social sciences and law at the Dublin Institute of Technology
She told the Child Wellbeing 08 conference in Killarney, organised by the South Kerry Development Partnership, that the €400 million annually going into the pockets of parents of children up to the age of five to buy childcare would be better directed towards early childhood settings and towards ensuring “a universal model” of early childhood education.
The capacity to learn and absorb in early childhood – up to the age of three – was “astonishing”.
She said children who had “a good start in life” were less likely to be poor as adults. They were much more highly motivated, exploring rather than disruptive, and were better for society economically and socially.
In Nordic countries more than 1 per cent of GDP was invested in early childhood education. The benefits were positive yet in Ireland, with only 0.5 per cent of GDP, the impact was limited.
“To unlock that potential in Ireland, fundamental changes are needed. We have no political champion, no one in politics battling for early childhood education,” said Dr Hayes.