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Ref: Early Years Funding Issue
I am sure that savings could be made within the Education department without having to resort to withdrawing of funding for the early years education.
My suggestions are as follows:
- Review and eliminate various adult education courses that are part/fully subsided by the education department, which in turn would reduce the number of administration staff required. In addition would reduce further costs, i.e. printing costs, marketing costs, etc
- Stop building, staffing and equipping nursery classes in the public sector, especially when there are adequate provisions available in the private sector
- Review grants made by the education department associated to senior sport or senior adult education
- Reduce the number of unnecessary highly paid civil servants
- Implement parking charges for all staff members as free parking is not provided by employers in the private sector workplaces
Means Testing:
- Has it been budgeted what staff and management costs incurred for the process of means testing?.
- Should means testing be introduced in an equitable, this should apply across the board and not only nursery education, if it is to be introduced. i.e. Schools - Further Education etc:
- As part of means testing should there not be an asset test as many professional and company directors can manage their income to below the threshold levels that may be set, causing further in-equality.
- The test should be finding an equitable level playing field between all public and private sectors.
Concerns:
Some parents may resort to using un-registered child care provisions. Have any estimates been obtained to the costs of further monitoring and policing, to ensure that this practise does not happen and flourish.
There has been a considerable amount of studies underatken that clearly confirms that money spent on early years education benefits:
- the child going right through to secondary education and increasing the standards of exams results, in particular G.C.S,E's
- reduces long term costs that may involve anti social behaviour and sometimes even criminality.
- Long term savings on society and the state.
I would like my comments to be formally recorded and I am willing to provided further submissions if required.
Yours faithfully