Childcare strategy under scrutiny as NI nursery principal warns education risks being overlooked
childcare is at the center of a fast-moving debate in Northern Ireland as a nursery school principal warns that education could be pushed to the sidelines. Claire Evans of St Teresa’s Nursery has raised concerns directly with Education Minister Paul Givan about the Stormont Executive’s draft plan. The consultation on the draft strategy is set to close on Tuesday, sharpening pressure on officials to clarify what is protected and what is being expanded.
Nursery principal says nursery schools must be treated as education, not childcare
Evans, who leads St Teresa’s Nursery and also chairs the west Belfast area learning nursery cluster group, said the importance of nursery school education is at risk of being overlooked in the Executive’s childcare strategy. The cluster group includes 24 nursery schools in the west Belfast area, which Evans described as connected to the needs of the wider community.
Her central warning is that the draft strategy is focused on expanding childcare rather than protecting nursery education. Evans said there is concern that the “quality teacher-led provision” offered by nursery schools is being overlooked within the current approach.
“It’s not just about our school, it’s about our whole community, ” Evans said, emphasizing the broader impact she believes nursery provision has beyond a single campus.
What the draft strategy proposes: subsidies, living wage, and pre-school hours
The headline measure in the draft strategy is a plan to subsidise more than half of all childcare costs for working families by April 2032. The draft also states that the average cost of full-time childcare for a family is £57 a day per child, or just under £15, 000 a year before any deductions or subsidies.
The Executive’s programme for government has made affordable and accessible childcare a priority. Within that wider push, the strategy also aims to ensure all childcare staff are paid at least the real living wage, described as a voluntary pay rate set by the Living Wage Foundation and currently £13. 45 an hour outside London.
The draft further aims to provide 22. 5 hours of pre-school education a week for all children in the year before they start primary school. It notes that there has been a shortage of pre-school places for children with special educational needs (SEN) in previous years.
Ministerial response and rising focus as the consultation nears its close
Evans said she wrote to Minister Paul Givan with her concerns and received a reply. “He has stated that the department does not view statutory nursery schools as being childcare. We really welcome that, ” she said, framing the response as an important distinction at a moment when the draft strategy is under consultation.
Evans also said it is especially important that nursery schools are protected as part of the strategy. “We have to provide children who are ready to learn in P1, ” she said, pointing to the educational mission she believes must remain explicit and secure in any final policy package.
What’s next as the childcare strategy consultation closes
With the consultation due to close on Tuesday, attention is now turning to how the Department of Education and the Stormont Executive will address concerns that nursery education could be overshadowed by broader childcare expansion. The coming stage will be whether the final strategy makes clear protections for statutory nursery schools while pursuing the plan to subsidise childcare costs, improve staff pay, and expand pre-school education hours.
