Minimum Enrolment Requirements for September 2011 and September 2012

The ECCE Scheme should be delivered within a structure which supports the best delivery of pre-school education, and terms and conditions are set out to assist in providing this structure.  One of these terms and conditions concerns the number of children i.e.

" Services must have a minimum enrolment of 8 children in their pre-school year.  Subject to compliance with all other contractual requirements, exceptions will be considered in the case of:

•  services which have an enrolment of at least 8 children but, for good reason, only 3 or more are in their pre-school year and the remainder will be eligible for a pre-school year in the following year, and
• smaller services which are considered appropriate settings for delivery of the pre-school year but, for good reason, have an enrolment of not less than 5 children in their pre-school year. "

For September 2011, where a service is providing preschool education to only one or two children, this will not be considered an appropriate setting for the delivery of preschool education under the programme, and such services will not be granted entry to the scheme in September 2011.

From September 2012, the terms and conditions governing the number of children in a preschool setting will be strictly enforced.  In certain borderline circumstances, exceptions may continue to be considered, on a case by case basis.