Nursery World - Pre-schools set for review in NI (1)

Proposals to raise the admission age for nursery schools and classes in Northern Ireland to ensure that two-year-olds remain in a more age-appropriate environment have been welcomed by the early years organisation NIPPA.

The Department of Education's review of pre-school education, which was put out for consultation last week, suggested that children should either be admitted in their immediate pre-school year between three and four, or when they reach three, the age at which they can go to a private nursery.

NIPPA chief executive Siobhan Fitzpatrick said, 'We agree with the sentiments in the document that the current statutory nursery school provisions, the curriculum, the buildings and the staff ratios are not appropriate for two-year-olds.'

The review has been launched against a backdrop of rapidly declining numbers of pre-school children in Northern Ireland, down from 25,000 in 2001 to 23,500 last year and expected to dip below 21,000 by 2010, threatening the viability of some pre-school provision.

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