IPPN

Published: 20 April 2009

Source: independent.ie

By Katherine Donnelly


Monday April 20 2009

CELTIC tiger burnout and the recession are driving more men into seeking new careers as primary teachers.

A growing number of men are signing up for the post-graduate online course offered by Hibernia College.

It is a significant turnaround for the profession, which has seen a worrying drop in the proportion of male teachers.

In the 1970s, 30pc of primary teachers were male, but in the 2008/09 school year the figure was below 16pc .

Hibernia is currently filling places for its October 2009 class, and is predicting a male uptake of at least 20pc, up from 11pc for its first students on 2003/04, and from 16pc this year.

"We are getting more applicants because of the downturn and lifestyle choices. That was true for both males and females," Hibernia president Sean Rowland said.

More than half (54pc) of Hibernia students have a primary degree in arts, languages or education, but a further 26pc have come to it as business graduates.

The remainder are: science, 11pc; information technology, 4pc; law, 3pc; and nursing, 2pc.

"The downturn has attracted far more numbers of qualified applicants, people who may have had a 10-year career in information technology, pharmaceuticals, finance or banking," said Mr Rowland.

Work-life balance was also an issue and Mr Rowland said some of their students told them they never saw their children because of the long hours in their previous career.

He said some may also have been influenced at school to pursue a more financially rewarding career but they were now making a lifestyle choice.

The current education cutbacks will impact on teacher numbers, but Mr Rowland said "no matter what the pupil-teacher ratio is, we are going to need to teach our children".

Many mature male applicants are fulfilling a childhood ambition but were beaten in the Leaving Certificate points race for a place in teacher training college. Girls tend to perform better in the Leaving Certificate and are also more likely to take higher-level Irish, a minimum requirement for entry to any primary teacher training course.

Concern

The feminisation of teaching has been a source of concern, not least because of the loss of male role models, particularly for the growing number of children not living with their father.

A 2005 report on males in primary teaching triggered a campaign promoting the rewards of being a teacher. The campaign had limited success, with males accounting for 16pc of student primary teachers.

Hibernia student Seamus Silke (35) took voluntary redundancy from a job in a computer company last year.

He said he didn't get enough points for teacher training in the Leaving Cert and when he considered it again at a post-graduate level, the Celtic Tiger was up and running and he chose to study computing.

While he took his decision to switch careers before the downturn took a hold, he said the recession was definitely having an impact on other men.

- Katherine Donnelly

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Published: 20 April 2009

Source: Irish Times

MINISTER FOR Children Barry Andrews has insisted there will be sufficient numbers of childcare places available to provide a year's free pre-school for every child in the State from January next year.

Fine Gael has dismissed the plans as a "pipe dream" and said it would be impossible to create a sufficient number of places to meet the anticipated demand. However, at a childcare conference at the weekend, the Minister said he was confident there would be sufficient childcare places as a result of spare capacity in the system.

Under the new initiative, an estimated 70,000 children aged between three-years three-months and four and a half at 1st September next will qualify for the scheme in January 2010.

Mr Andrews said he estimated about 61,000 of this age group were already in some form of community childcare or pre-school service. He said there was a high vacancy rate as a result of the downturn, which could be as high as a further 22,000 places.

A census of pre-school services is due to carried out in September to collect additional data on childcare provision across the State and help identify any potential gaps.

Speaking to an audience of childcare providers at a conference organised by the Irish Pre-School Playgroup Association, Mr Andrews said he was aware some Opposition TDs had claimed the plan would never be realised.

"Rather than bow to such criticism and paucity of ambition, I am asking you to join with me and my office to implement one of the most exciting steps ever taken in this country in terms of the provision of early childhood care and education.

"There will be challenges and hills to climb, but let us take those steps together and put in place a structure that is strong, durable and most importantly serves children for generations to come."

Officials at the Minister's office will be in contact with all pre-school services that are notified to the HSE by the end of the month to provide details of the scheme. It will then be a matter for services to apply for entry to the scheme during June and July, he said.

This timeframe will enable parents to contact participating services in their area during October and November of this year to enrol their child for January. In many cases, he said children may already be enrolled in a playschool or a full- or part-time service which chooses to enter the scheme.

Mr Andrews said he believed the real winners from pre-school plan would be disadvantaged and marginalised children, who are less likely to benefit from pre-school provision. "It is my view that very harshness of the environment that we currently find ourselves in served to underpin the need to, and importance of, supporting children in their most critical developmental period."

The pre-school year ; which will cost around €170 million ; will replace the annual €1,000 early childcare supplement paid to families with children under five, which costs the State almost €500 million. An annual capitation grant of over €2,400 will be payable to pre-school services participating in the scheme.

Parents who avail of the pre-school year in a playschool will be entitled to a free provision of five weekly sessions of three hours per day for 38 weeks per annum.

The Office of the Minister for Children has established a helpline 1890 303039 to deal with queries. Further information will be posted on the office's website, www.omc.gov.ie

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Published: 18 April 2009

Source: Irish Times

CARL O'BRIEN, Social Affairs Correspondent

INCREASING NUMBERS of parents are taking their children out of creches and placing them with unqualified childminders to save money, childcare experts have warned.

Irene Gunning, chief executive of the Irish Preschool Play Association, told a conference in Dublin yesterday there was a danger that many children would miss out on high-quality early childhood care and education as a result.

"Our members are telling us they are being asked by parents to be much more flexible in providing more part-time care," Ms Gunning said, "but many parents are moving to childminding and there is a growing concern about that.

"You can sometimes have very gifted childminders, but it is an unregulated and if the standards or the quality isn't there, no one is there to step in."

Steve Alexander, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, the largest provider of early years education in England, said the pattern of parents shunning formal childcare was taking root in Britain as the recession bit.

"Parents simply don't have the money for daycare and the changes in credit rules are making it harder for childcare services to survive," he said.

The conference also heard that TVs and computer games were "sabotaging" traditional play and exposing children to the sales tactics of aggressive marketers.

Sue Palmer, the author of Toxic Childhood, which claims modern lifestyles are damaging children, said over-protective parents and childcare workers were in danger of stunting children's development.

"Boys in particular need to be outdoors play-fighting with their friends and using their natural energy and creativity instead of spending hours on computer games . . . ," she said.

"Anyone working with young children needs to respect their play and realise there are times when you should manage it, but there are also times when you should back off. That can be hard if you are a childcare worker with legislation tying your hands, or parents wanting to ensure their children don't get bruised or scratched while playing."

Ms Gunning also said it was vital for children to learn essential life skills through their play. "Parents today can be too competitive about their children and tend to over-complicate and over-schedule their child's play time. We know that traffic is a big problem and we need to find practical ways for children to reclaim the territory outside their doors to play with their friends and to have fun making their own play," she said.

"We adults have got to do a reality check and really consider what it's like to be a child in Ireland today if we are to properly shape the agenda for childcare and create a real vision for tomorrow."

To do that, she added, parents needed to look at childcare for children, rather than something convenient to suit the adults.

Minister for Children Barry Andrews is due to address the conference today where he is expected to provide further details on plans for a free preschool place for every child in Ireland.

The conference continues today in Dublin Castle from 9am until 4.30pm.

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Published: 17 April 2009

Source: Irish Times

While the childcare supplement is being phased out, it remains unclear how the Government plans to change child benefit, writes CAROLINE MADDEN

THE SUPPLEMENTARY Budget was described as giving to parents with one hand and taking away with the other. Although the announcement of a free pre-school year has been widely welcomed by lobby groups, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan made it clear that it is only a matter of time before child benefit payments become means-tested or taxed. So how will the Budget hit parents' pockets, and what further changes are coming down the line?

SCRAPPING OF EARLY CHILDCARE SUPPLEMENT

Described by Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton as "one of the worst-designed bribes ever given to young families" in her post-Budget analysis, the Early Childcare Supplement, introduced in 2006, is already being phased out.

"This scheme was introduced to help people with the cost of childcare at the height of the boom," Lenihan said in his Budget speech last week, but in Burton's opinion "it did absolutely nothing except drive up creche fees".

The programme, which cost the State €480 million last year, is to be replaced by a free Early Childhood and Education Scheme for pre-school children at an estimated cost of €170 million a year.

Currently, parents of children under five are entitled to an annual Early Childcare Supplement of just under €1,000, paid monthly. However, the monthly rate will be halved from €83 to €41.50 per child on May 1st and phased out completely at the end of this year.

The free pre-school year will start in January 2010 and is expected to benefit 70,000 children every year. A capitation grant will be paid to service providers who provide free pre-school services.

"Regardless of income or ability to pay, all children will be entitled to avail of this pre-school service," Minister for Children Barry Andrews said.

The exact details of how the scheme will operate in practice remain hazy but, according to the website of the Office of the Minister for Children, children enrolled in playschools will receive free pre-school provision of three hours per day, five days a week over a 38-week year.

This equates to a weekly capitation grant to the service provider of €64.50. Parents with children enrolled in these services will not be charged.

Children enrolled in full- or part-time childcare will receive free pre-school provision of two hours and 15 minutes per day, five days a week, over a 50-week period. This equates to a weekly capitation grant to the service provider of €48.50, with parents paying for their childcare net of this amount.

"Over the course of the year, the financial benefit of the scheme for a single child is over €2,400," according to the Office of the Minister for Children.

In order to introduce the scheme as quickly as possible, it will come into force in January of next year. However, in future years the pre-school year will start in September. Children born between March 1st, 2005 and June 1st, 2006 will be eligible to enter the scheme in January 2010.

In the future, all children between the ages of three years and three months and four years and six months at September 1st each year will be eligible, and parents who wish to avail of the scheme can enrol their children with the available participating service provider of their choice.

"Parents should have regard to the enrolment policies of their local primary schools in making decisions regarding the age that their children should avail of the pre-school year," the Minister's office advises.

The new scheme has been warmly welcomed, but the feeling is that the devil will be in the detail.

"The redirection of the Early Childhood Supplement into a new scheme of one year's free pre-primary education for all Irish children is very welcome," commented Teresa Heeney, director of services of the National Children's Nurseries Association (NCNA), which has campaigned for this measure for years. "While we are cautious about the detail of the scheme which remains to be worked out, this measure acknowledges the value of investing in children in their earliest years," she added.

The National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) also welcomed the scheme, describing it as an important step in addressing the childcare crisis, in particular for families in poverty.

"However, the manner in which the scheme will be implemented remains unclear given the poor childcare infrastructure currently in place, particularly in rural areas," NWCI acting director Orla O'Connor said.

"We don't fully know the details yet," echoes Irene Gunning of the Irish Pre-school Play Association (IPPA). She says that their phones have been "hopping" with calls from parents looking for more information on how exactly the scheme will operate.

According to the Office of the Minister for Children, a helpline will be in place from next Monday, April 20th, for parents and childcare providers who have th queries in relation to the operation of the new scheme. The helpline number will be 1890 30 30 39.

CHILD BENEFIT TARGETED

Child benefit is a universal payment made to parents of children under 16 (or under 19 in certain circumstances ; eg, if the child is in full-time education or has a disability). The current child benefit rate is set at €166 a month for each of the first two children, rising to €203 for each subsequent child.

Changes announced in the October budget changed the age criteria for child benefit. During 2009, children aged 18 will get half-rate payments and from January, they will not receive the benefit at all (although a compensatory payment will be made to certain families).

Now there are definite plans afoot to change the universal nature of this State support. In his Budget speech, Lenihan said the Government no longer thought it fair to pay the same level of benefit irrespective of the level of income of the recipient.

"For that reason, the Government has decided that child benefit will be means-tested or taxed in the Budget for next year," he announced.

Child and parent groups are united in their opposition to any such move. The NWCI is "very much opposed" to either taxation or means-testing of child benefit payments, according to Orla O'Connor. The organisation has called on the Minister to reverse his decision to make such changes until there is a "fully subsidised quality childcare infrastructure" in place.

A survey recently conducted by the NWCI highlighted the importance of this payment to parents. Two-thirds of respondents said child benefit was a critical part of their family income, while 45 per cent indicated that it would be a "financial disaster" if the rates were reduced.

However, the die is cast, and the days of a universal child benefit payment, regardless of financial position, are numbered ; although introducing means-testing or taxation will be easier said than done. If the Government decides to means test the benefit, it will have to tread a very fine line when setting the income ceiling. Set it too low and they will hit parents who desperately need support to make ends meet. Set the ceiling too high and families who can afford to do without the payment will continue to benefit.

In a report published last year, John Sweeney of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) secretariat outlined a number of logistical difficulties in trying to means test or tax child benefit payments.

For example, at the moment it is difficult to identify the income of families in receipt of child benefit, unless the claimant is also receiving assistance payments. "The Department of Social and Family Affairs pays child benefit on behalf of most children in the State, but no data on applicants' incomes are required or collected," the report points out.

Revenue records do not lend themselves to bringing in such changes either.

"Individuals choose between being taxed as individuals or as a married couple. Where they elect the former, Revenue currently has no basis on their tax records for identifying taxpayers who are, in fact, parents rearing a child together," the report says.

Means testing or taxing child benefit payments would require new forms of collaboration between the department and Revenue.

Means-testing "seems to be the traditional route", Sweeney observes, but it would significantly increase the workload of the department responsible (presumably the Department of Social and Family Affairs).

"There is something much more automatic about handling things through the tax code," he adds. "It would keep processing and administration costs much, much lower."

Politically, means-testing could be problematic for the Government, as it would mean some people losing any entitlement to child benefit whereas, with taxation, the blow would be softened somewhat.

That makes taxation a more likely option, assuming the Government can work through the logistics involved.

Lenihan said in the October budget that he fully expects the Commission on Taxation to "examine options relating to the tax treatment of universal child benefit payments", adding that he looked forward to any "progressive proposals" that they may make. Therefore, parents will probably have to wait for the commission to report back in July in order to get a clearer picture of the changes coming down the tracks.

RISING COST OF CHILDCARE

Regardless of the approach adopted by the Government, for the many parents shelling out between €800 and €1,000 a month on creche fees per child, the financial relief provided by the free pre-school year won't be huge. And although the overall cost of living in the State may be falling, childcare costs are still mounting.

According to CSO figures for March, the cost of childcare increased by 5.8 per cent in the previous 12 months at a time when prices generally were falling at the fastest rate in decades. Almost half of all respondents to the NWCI survey said that their childcare costs had increased since December 2008. Just 3 per cent had noticed costs falling.

Individuals involved in the industry have noticed that cash-strapped parents are increasingly looking for new childcare arrangements in order to save money, for example trying to switch to part-time creche places or pay for childcare on an hourly rather than a daily basis. Meanwhile, quite a number of parents are moving their children out of regulated childcare providers into cheaper, unregulated childcare.

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