The influence of the EQF on Irish policies

The European Quality Framework provides key principles and a European approach to high-quality Early Years provision based on good practices in EU Member States. In 2014, the European Union (EU) Directorate General for Education and Culture published Proposal for key principles of a quality framework for Early Childhood Education and Care. This report was from the Working Group on Early Childhood Education and Care which comprised representatives from 25 countries including Ireland and it identifies actions that help produce and assure high-quality Early Years provision. It covers the most relevant themes in current EU policies on Early Years in a comprehensive way and devises clear recommendations on each topic. The main objective of the Framework is to describe a system that can provide high-quality Early Years and School Age Care for all children.

In this piece we look at the influence that the framework has in the development of Irish policies, specifically First 5, the ten-year Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families (2019-2028) as well as Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School-Age Childcare (SAC), 2022-2028.

First 5

First 5 is a whole-of-government strategy to improve the lives of babies, young children and their families. It is a ten-year plan to help make sure all children have positive early experiences and get a great start in life. The strategy uses evidence to identify goals, objectives and the specific actions required from across Government to support children (and their families) in the early years of life. The European Quality Framework is described as having been a “key input” in the design of First 5, with the structures and priorities of the strategy reflecting its five key areas:

1. Access
2. Workforce
3. Curriculum
4. Monitoring and Evaluation
5. Policy and Financing

The following actions are some of those in First 5 that reflect the specific priority areas.

Access

• Make high-quality Early Years and School Age Care for babies and young children more affordable.
• Maintain and extend the supply of high-quality publicly subsidised Early Years and School Age Care to best serve the developmental needs of babies and young children, ensuring that it also reflects the needs and preferences of parents and families.
• Ensure that Early Years and School Age Care provision promotes participation, strengthens social inclusion and embraces diversity through the integration of additional supports and services for children and families with additional needs.

Workforce

• Develop a Workforce Development Plan to ensure the appropriate number of Early Years and School Age Care staff at all levels in the sector.
• Improve access to high-quality initial training and Continuous Professional Development opportunities to ensure the staff involved in delivering early childhood supports and services are fully prepared for the demands of their professional roles.
• Develop mechanisms to raise the professional status of the Early Years and School Age Care workforce and support employers to offer more favourable working conditions to attract and retain staff.

Curriculum

• Through the National Síolta Aistear Initiative (NSAI), develop and implement a national plan for the phased, supported and simultaneous implementation of Síolta, the National Quality Framework, and Aistear, the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework, in all Early Years and School Age Care settings for babies and young children

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Progressively reform the Early Years and School Age Care regulatory and inspection systems and strengthen quality assurance, with a renewed emphasis on self-evaluation.

Policy and Financing

• Develop and introduce a new funding model for Early Years and School Age Care that will support improved quality of provision without compromising sustainability for providers or affordability for parents.
• Develop appropriate mechanisms to accurately track progress in public investment in early childhood.

Nurturing Skills

Nurturing skills aims to support and strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for the workforce in Early Years and School Age Care. Nurturing Skills sets out a vision of ‘A well-qualified, skilled, diverse and valued professional workforce’. Nurturing Skills gives credit to the European Quality Framework as having a “central influence” on the development of the Workforce Plan. With the workforce being one of the five priority areas, Nurturing Skills was guided by the framework’s understanding of what high quality Early Years and School Age Care should look like. The framework recognises that ‘Staff is the most significant factor for children’s well-being, learning and developmental outcomes. Therefore, staff working conditions and professional development are seen as essential components of quality’, sentiments that are reflected in Nurturing Skills.

In addition, a working group, of which Ireland was a member, was set up over the period 2018-2020 to build on the work of the framework through the examination of policies to support professionalisation and inclusion. A report published by the working group in December 2020 on “Early Childhood Education and Care: How to Recruit, Train and Motivate Well-Qualified Staff”, greatly informed the development of the Workforce Plan. This report echoed the need for all stakeholders including national and local decision- makers, employers, Early Years and School Age Care leaders, trade unions, social partners, and education and training institutions to support the professional development of the workforce as well as the attractiveness of the Early Years and School Age Care system. It also emphasised the need to recognise the value of the workforce.

Conclusion

The objective of the European Quality Framework is to describe a system which can provide high-quality Early Years and School Age Care for all children. As the work of Early Childhood Ireland is centred around this goal, we welcome Irish policies’ reflection of the framework’s priorities. We will continue to monitor the progress of First 5 and Nurturing Skills. Early Childhood Ireland also continues to champion the importance of the European Quality Framework among stakeholders and policy makers.

If you have any questions or queries about our work, please contact [email protected].