Children’s Rights Alliance annual Report Card 22: Is Government keeping its promises to children?

Last week, the Children’s Rights Alliance published its annual Report Card which analyses the Programme for Government and how it performed for children and young people in 2021, by reviewing the 16 promises made to children and rating the government on its efforts.

2021 was a year defined by Covid-19 which had an enormous impact on the lives and rights of children and young people. The Report Card also looked at how the increased cost of living has impacted, particularly on those already experiencing disadvantage.

The Report Card commended Government in some areas. For example, it awards a ‘B’ grade in response to the pledge to create new pathways for long-term undocumented families. The Report Card also includes two ‘E’ grades. The first for child homelessness. At the end of 2021, there were nearly 300 more children and young people in emergency accommodation compared to the beginning of the year. Another ‘E’ grade is for the continuing practice of admitting children to adult psychiatric units.

In relation to our sector, the Programme for Government commits to:

Reform the childcare system to create one that brings together the best of community and private childcare provision, focused on children’s rights, quality outcomes, reducing inequalities, supports staff retention as well as substantially reducing costs to parents. We will do so in consultation with providers, staff and parents.

This was awarded a ‘B-‘grade up from the ‘C’ grade given last year. The Report Card commends the Government for increased investment in Budget 2022. It also acknowledges the progress made in publishing the Expert Group on the Funding Model Report and the Workforce Development Plan, which it says “…provides a strong foundation for the systemic change needed to reform the early childhood education and care system in Ireland..”

The Government received ‘D’ grades in five out of the 16 areas, including the lack of progress in establishing ‘Childcare Ireland’ the proposed single agency for our sector

QUALITY FOR CHILDREN
The Report Card emphasises the importance of quality for children citing the standards outlined by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. It outlines several criteria that ensure that every child has access to a high-quality learning and care environment, including:

• Staff possess the appropriate psychosocial qualities and are suitable, sufficiently numerous and well-trained;
• Services are appropriate to the circumstances, age and individuality of young children and all staff must be trained to work with this age group;
• Work with young children is socially valued and properly paid to attract a highly-qualified workforce and staff should have an up-to-date theoretical and practical understanding about children’s rights and development; and
• Staff use child-centred care practices, curricula and pedagogies, and have access to specialist professional resources and support, including a supervisory and monitoring system for public and private services.

STAFF
The Report Card emphasises the importance of appropriately qualified staff as a central lever in achieving quality for children. “It is vital that all those in the ecosystem of early childhood education and care – parents or carers, wider family, and early years professionals – are equipped with the requisite knowledge and skills to foster these pivotal relationships,” according to this year’s Report Card.

It also notes that the early years workforce is made up predominantly of women, with high staff turnover and considerable variation in wages depending on regional location. It cites Pobal’s Annual Sector Profile which found that the average annual staff turnover rate is approximately 18 per cent, with this rising to a high of 38 per cent in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and a low of 11 per cent in Roscommon.

INEQUALITY

The Report Card also examines the Government’s performance in delivering high-quality early years services to children experiencing disadvantage. It cites European Commission research which found that the participation rate of children from low-income families in formal childcare was less than a quarter as that of their high-income peers. It also acknowledges the commitment to undertake an evaluation of the Access Inclusion Model (AIM) which is due to be published this year.

CHILDMINDING

The Report Card commends the Government for publishing the National Action Plan on Childminding. It underlines the fact that young children receiving care and education services in the homes of childminders have the same rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as children receiving centre-based services, including the right to high-quality. The Report Card concludes that all providers (be they centre-based or home-based) who access public funds and provide early childhood education and care should be qualified to a high standard.

You can read the Report Card 2022 in full here. Early Childhood Ireland will be monitoring the progress of these issues for our sector. Our Policy Team is available to answer questions on the topics raised here.