Our campaign to reverse changes to the ECCE scheme continues (incl. updates)

07

Mar

2018

On Friday 24th November at 4.00pm, the Department of Children & Youth Affairs announced significant changes to the overage exemptions under the ECCE Scheme. The changes were announced without any communication or consultation with any of the key stakeholders, especially parents.

There was a strong reaction from parents and members of Down Syndrome Ireland, resulting in a parent-led online petition with more than 20,000 contributors.

Down Syndrome Ireland along with representative parents asked immediately to meet with Officials from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to call for a complete reversal of the decision.

This meeting took place on Friday 8th December with key officials from the Department.

In the meeting, we explained the reasons why children with Down syndrome need flexibility in the programme:

  • Children with Down syndrome take longer to reach developmental stages requiring additional preschool time.
  • All children with Down syndrome will have more medical and therapy appointments than typically developing children, which can considerably impact on attendance.
  • Our experience of working with teachers, parents and therapists informs us that starting formal education for children with Down syndrome before they are ready leads to significant difficulties for both the child and educators.

 

Following the meeting, Officials consulted with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone who have reported back that the overage exemptions will continue for the ECCE year starting in September 2018. This is consistent with the communication issued by the Department last Thursday (December 7th).  They have since committed to a time-bound consultation process to decide the future structure of this scheme and have assured us it will be completed by mid-2018.

While we welcome any opportunity to participate in a constructive consultation process, we need the flexibility to be maintained in the current scheme. The decision to change the scheme is regrettable and now leaves parents who have children with Down syndrome in a very difficult situation.  It is unfair to disadvantage children with Down syndrome and will cause a lot of confusion for parents who were due to start pre-school in Summer 2018/ 2019 and a lot of anxiety for families while the consultation process is underway.

“While we welcome any opportunity to participate in a constructive consultation process, we need the flexibility to be maintained in the current scheme. The decision to change the schemes is  regrettable and now leaves parents who have children with Down syndrome in a very difficult situation.”

We have communicated our view to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Whilst they set out the rationale for their decision, which was made collectively with the Department of Education and Skills, and with advice from other parties, they listened to our countering arguments.

We now want to meet the Department of Education and Skills, the NCSE, the INTO and other interested parties to pursue our objective to support our members during this critical period of their child’s education.

“We are grateful to all of you who have been in touch with us about your concerns and we can assure you that your voices were and will continue to be heard.”

We are grateful to all of you who have been in touch with us about your concerns and we can assure you that your voices were and will continue to be heard. A special thank you too to all the parents who continue to rally around the issue, gaining support via petitions, media coverage and lobbying political representatives. The groundswell of parents’ voices will make our case all the more powerful.

UPDATE: January 12th 2018

We are continuing to lobby for flexibility and parental choice to be reintroduced to the ECCE scheme.

As you may be aware, on Friday (January 12th), we met with officials from both the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to call for the over-age exemption for children with disabilities to be reintroduced. In the meeting, we again explained the reasons why children with Down syndrome need flexibility in the programme. At that meeting, we outlined that parents need to plan for their child’s pre-school journey several years in advance, so just suspending the changes for this year is leaving parents in limbo. We called for immediate action to be taken to reassure parents planning on enrolling their children in pre-school in the next three years.

At that meeting, we were told we would have an update within two weeks. 

In response, officials from the Department of Education said they have had a “number of positive exchanges” with their colleagues in the DCYA.

They said they were “conscious that parents are faced with an early decision to enrol or to wait a further year”. They said they understand that a decision on this issue is “imminent” and outlined that will be able to respond in more detail this week. We will keep you informed.

UPDATE: February 1st 2018

Update on our campaign to reverse changes to the ECCE scheme continues

We are continuing to lobby for flexibility and parental choice to be reintroduced to the ECCE scheme.

As you may be aware, on Friday (January 12th), we met with officials from both the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to call for the over-age exemption for children with disabilities to be reintroduced. In the meeting, we again explained the reasons why children with Down syndrome need flexibility in the programme. At that meeting, we outlined that parents need to plan for their child’s pre-school journey several years in advance, so just suspending the changes for this year is leaving parents in limbo. We called for immediate action to be taken to reassure parents planning on enrolling their children in pre-school in the next three years.

At that meeting, we were told we would have an update within two weeks. 

In response, officials from the Department of Education said they have had a “number of positive exchanges” with their colleagues in the DCYA.

They said they were “conscious that parents are faced with an early decision to enrol or to wait a further year”. They said they understand that a decision on this issue is “imminent” and outlined that will be able to respond in more detail this week. We will keep you informed.

Latest News

Changes to SET hours – DSI, AsIAm and Inclusion Ireland call for pause

22 Feb 2024

Down Syndrome Ireland gravely concerned by Dept. of Education circular

12 Feb 2024

Down Syndrome Ireland expresses concern on proposed changes to SET hours

09 Feb 2024