Parents are putting too much emphasis on academic success for children in early years education, according to inspectors from the Department of Education and Skills.

The first set of inspection reports focused on early years education - covering a total of 44 preschools - was published by the department on Thursday on its website www.education.ie.

Inspectors noted a tendency in some services to make the early years experience for children overly formal rather than play-based.

Inspectors noted this tendency at time can be driven by parental expectations.

“Where this occurs, it can result in provision which prioritises ’academic’ skills such as knowing letters and being able to hold a pencil over the development of important learning dispositions such as creativity, problem solving, self regulation and persistence,” inspectors noted.

Teresa Heeney CEO Early Childhood Ireland said quality early years education is child centred and play based.

““It is good to see the new inspectors recommending a play based curriculum for preschool and early years settings. We have warned against the schoolification of children too early. Preschool is not about getting children to sit down quietly and do their A B Cs and our Aistear curriculum supports a child led, inquiry curriculum,” said Ms Heeney.

In May 2015 the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs launched a public consultation on early years education focussed inspection in early years settings participating in the governments Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme.

Since April 2016, a total of 182 inspections have been carried out in a diverse range of early-years settings on contract to deliver the universal free preschool in ECCEprogramme funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.