INCREASINGLY, PARENTS recognise the value of early-childhood education and choose to send their children to a variety of pre-school settings, from community playgroups to naionrai. While the commitment among staff and the standard in the pre-school facilities are generally high, gaining access to State-accredited training can be difficult, particularly in rural areas.
Among the most recent initiatives in place to address this issue is the Early Childhood Training Project - a joint initiative of the Western Health Board, the Irish Pre-School Playgroups Association and the West of Ireland Network for New Sources of Jobs. Since last September, more than 90 people living in the western region have been participating in an NCVA level-2 course in childcare.
While many childcare workers have been providing good quality services for children for years, a study carried out in the Western Health Board region by Jenny Bernard, an early-years consultant and chairperson of the Early Childhood Training Project management committee, found that the majority of workers in playgroups and day-care services in the region had only very basic training. Anne Halligan, who is based in Castlebar, Co Mayo, is one of the project participants. "I work in a naionra here in Castlebar. I have trained through An Chomhchoiste Reamhscolaiochta (the umbrella organisation for naoinrai), which was very good training, but I really wanted to have a qualification which had national recognition." There are more and more job opportunities working with young children, and a need for a variety of State-recognised qualifications. But while the course being run under the Early Childhood Training Project enhances job opportunities for people living in the west, some of the participants have found the training has been of benefit on a more personal level. "You get to meet other people involved in this area and a rare chance to hear all sorts of ideas you can use in your own workplace," Halligan says. "You also find you start developing more confidence and, through the work you do, you're gathering lots of new information about child development and other aspects of early childhood education."
The course is run on a part-time basis over two years. Participants meet in one of the six different centres in the region once a week for six hours. Fionnuala Foley, the project manager, says "the biggest achievement of the project is that it is accessible to people who would not otherwise have been able to get this qualification. "First, it is in centres which the participants can get to - often difficult in rural areas. Second, it is accessible because it fits in with other commitments the participants might have. A lot of courses are full-time and it is almost impossible for people working in this field to take time out to do a full-time course. "As part of the initiative, all the main childcare and education agencies in the area are involved. This is the first time in Ireland that such a co-ordinated regional approach has been taken to childcare training."
An evaluation of how the initiative is running so far was recently undertaken. "The people doing the course have given us very positive feedback," Foley says. "They find the workload, which involves ongoing assignments and projects, quite challenging - but they generally feel that the fact that they will have a qualification at the end of the day makes it all worthwhile."
Jenny Bernard says the project's impact to date has been considerable. "Participants have seen an impact on the quality of the service they provide," she says. "They tend to have more self-confidence, and their ability to communicate is better. There also seems to be a greater awareness of the needs of children and how to meet those needs."
MOST COURSE participants are already working in childcare settings and would have a considerable amount of experience. Having worked for a while in an area, undertaking training can lead to repetition of what has already been learned. However, according to Bernard, "the participants see the course as an opportunity to bring them up-to-date on the latest educational theory and match it with their experience - which is invaluable."
Childcare is becoming increasingly professionalised in Ireland, she says. "Early-years education and care is a profession which is on the move," Bernard says, "and it is great that people are thinking about qualifications, even up to third level. "It is possible to do a degree in early-years education and care, but we would like to see accessibility built into any further training opportunities, such as doing courses on a part-time basis or through a distance-learning option. "We have had a huge response to this project, people are interested in all kinds of training."
Foley says: "We haven't looked at the impact on children yet, but as the quality of the service improves through training, the children can only benefit."
