The Education Minister Paul Givan has today announced a £25 million package of measures to support children, parents and providers with early learning and childcare.
The package is designed to stabilise and support expansion of the sector, offering all children 22.5 hours of pre-school education per week.
It also aims to reduce childcare bills for working parents, through a Northern Ireland Childcare Subsidy Scheme.
Speaking after the support measures were approved by the Executive, Mr Givan described the move as an “ambitious package” that represents “the most significant enhancement of early years investment in Northern Ireland in decades”.
He added that supporting young children and their families is a “top priority” for the Executive, despite “an extremely challenging budget position”.
The new measures will also build the evidence base necessary to inform the longer-term Early Learning and Childcare Strategy.
The Minister continued: “I very much welcome the Executive’s commitment to the delivery of 22.5 hours funded pre-school education for all children in their pre-school year.
“This is an unprecedented expansion of early years developmental provision in over 25 years and will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on the lives of children in Northern Ireland for decades to come.
“It is a necessarily ambitious programme which will ease current pressures on parents and providers and lay the foundation upon which I intend to build.
“This is by no means the limit of my ambitions, but rather an important first step towards a full Early Learning and Childcare Strategy.”
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