The Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA) have published the consultative document on  a Workforce Development Plan for the Early Childhood Care and Education sector in Ireland.

The Department has called for comments from the sector on the consultation document which will be used to inform on how to address the challenges in training and development for the future. The closing date for the submissions is September 30^th 2009.

When the workforce development plan is finally in place it will provide a path for training and skills development of the sector and will contribute to setting sectoral standards for all awards in early childhood care and education. Qualified staff along with a developmentally appropriate “curriculum” are amongst the important features of an effective early care and education programme.

The Committee will facilitate a meeting with childcare practitioners in early Sept to discuss the document and to contribute to a submission on the plan.

The workforce development plan  and the background discussion paper may be downloaded by going to the website of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. www.omcya.ie