I am delighted to be here today to launch this Early Learning Centre - the brainchild of The National College of Ireland, which has been to the forefront of innovation in learning for more than fifty years.
The opening of the Centre is very much in keeping with the mission of the College in providing a centre of academic excellence; creating opportunities for students to succeed; and facilitating access to education for all. It is a community-based early learning initiative. Its aim is to address educational disadvantage through the provision, from birth, of an integrated programme of activities; and to provide a strong learning foundation that can be built on, through succeeding phases of the educational journey.
The key underlying principle of this initiative is that, by giving parents training and support in the vital early years, we can create exciting new opportunities for their children to succeed in life through education and training. And of course, by doing this, we can ensure that our society develops and prospers - that everybody has a chance and everybody can play a part. All of the research backs up what we intuitively know, that family involvement has a huge influence on children’s educational development and that encouraging a proactive interest in our children’s lives is crucial. By empowering parents, we are empowering their children.
The Early Learning Centre provides a comprehensive range of activities, training and support, giving children a first class educational start and ongoing support to reach their full potential. The target group is children aged under six years living within the boundaries of the North Docklands area and the target families are 50 families within this catchment area.
The programme recognises that the learner operates within a number of frameworks - the family, the school, the community and the wider social system. Given the importance of ensuring that all state services are working together to ensure positive outcomes for children, I am glad to see that the Centre works closely with local schools and with existing interventions, such as the Department of Education and Science’s Home School Community Liaison scheme. I am also pleased to see that there is a strong monitoring and evaluation element to this initiative. The Government will be taking a keen interest in the programme's outcomes.
This excellent initiative has been very well planned. It draws on national and international best practice; there has been community participation at every stage; and programmes have been piloted to ensure their suitability and relevance. Most importantly of all, though, I sense that the community believes in the initiative. So the prospects for success are excellent.
The Government fully recognises the importance of giving our children the best possible start in life. The year before last, we teamed up with Atlantic Philanthropies to provide funding over 5 years for an innovative Prevention and Early Intervention Programme for Children.
This programme targets three areas of severe disadvantage where there is evidence of the need for early intervention – Tallaght West, Darndale and Ballymun. And, as with the Early Learning Centre project, a key focus is consultation with the local community.
In concluding, I would like to thank all concerned for their very important inputs to this innovative project, especially the local community's service providers. I would also like to acknowledge the contribution made by the Patrons of the Early Learning Centre. They are all high achieving international businessmen and developers. But they take their responsibilities to the wider community very seriously. As well as their generous financial contribution, they have, from the beginning, taken the time to engage with the project's development. And they have brought their vision and lateral thinking skills to bear on the "how" of making a difference to educational attainment in the inner city.
Of course, all initiatives and programmes need a committed driver. I would, accordingly, like to salute the drive of Pat O’Connor and his team and their commitment to their local community.
Congratulations to the National College of Ireland and all those involved in the Early Learning Centre. I would like to wish all concerned every success in the journey of learning and personal development ahead.
Thank you very much again for inviting me here today and thank you for your attention.
ENDS