Meanings of pre-school year in English

However, a free pre-school year is to be introduced for parents of children in daycare.

Six grades and two pre-school year groups are set to return on a staggered timetable on Monday 6 July.

Not only that, an additional free, pre-school year is also under consideration, along with improvement of after-school care services.

Parents are increasingly waiting until their children turn five before starting primary school since the introduction of the free pre-school year.

This follows the extension of the free pre-school year from one to two years and new subsidised childcare for the under-threes.

ABOUT 94 per cent of children eligible for the free pre-school year have taken it up, the Minister for Children said yesterday.

A second free pre-school year is on the way but not until at least 2015, Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald said yesterday.

Education-focused early years inspections of crèches and pre-schools which take part in the State's free pre-school year programme have begun this week.

At present, the terms of the free pre-school year mean some children do not begin the scheme until they are 4½ years old.

The introduction and expansion of the free pre-school year is a key factor behind the older age profile of junior infants, say experts.

As children grow beyond the pre-school years, the larger society imposes criteria and conditions upon love and acceptance.

She said improving the quality of childcare from infancy through the pre-school years also had to be a priority.