A little more than half of the early years workforce is employed part-time, and 98 per cent of the hours were worked by female staff members. The average full-time equivalent child-to-staff ratio was 5:5.
The 2002 Pre-school and Daycare Census, carried out at the end of January 2002, identified more than 4,100 centres offering pre-school education or daycare. Just over half the centres described themselves as nurseries, a further 26 per cent as playgroups and 11 per cent as out-of-school care, with the remainder including play-schemes and creches.
The 2002 results were remarkably similar to the 2001 results, especially given that the Executive believes it over-estimated the total number of daycare centres last year, putting it at more than 4,300. The previous census also found that nearly 99,000 three-to five-year-olds were attending centres providing pre-school education in January 2001, and as in 2002, almost three-quarters were in local authority pre-school provision.
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