AQW 17940/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 11/11/2024
Answered On Date: 15/11/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to detail the capital funding available to schools moving to full time pre-school offer as part of standardisation of Pre-School Education Programme.

Answer:

It is my intention that approximately 100 pre-school settings will transition to offer 22.5 hours pre-school education provision per week from September 2025. My Department has published for consultation three tranches consisting of a total of 107 pre-school settings that are being considered for a transition to the standardised session length from September 2025. None of these settings require capital investment to deliver this.

Capital investment will be required in future years as the Standardisation Programme continues to roll out. The Scoping Study published on my Department’s website contains details of the resource and capital funding likely to be required for this.