There is still a lot of confusion about qualification requirements from 2017 . As we know the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016 requires all staff who work directly with children to be qualified to the minimum of QQI Level 5 in an approved Early Childhood Care and Education qualification. The following has been clarified with DCYA.
Support workers (like an SNA from another agency) do not have to have to have the qualification. Their role is to provide extra support for in individual child . They are not in ratio and will work with the appropriate number of qualified staff. Vetting does apply
Students and unqualified CE workers are similar to the above. They are “trainees” . They work alongside qualified staff and are not in ratio. Parents who volunteer to assist also fall into this category.
We are double checking about other extra support paid staff. Some inspectors have confirmed with our clients that extra assistance can be employed in a room once they are not in ratio and that the appropriate qualified staff are in place. Others say the contrary so this question has been posed to DCYA for final clarification.
The Qualification Assessment Process
As you may have heard about the DCYA qualifications Recognition Process which was recently announced where individuals ( who have 6 out of the 8 modules completed) can seek approval to continue to work in the sector.
The qualifications assessment process is open to anyone who wants to apply.
As regards mention of 'early 2017' and '6 out of 8 modules', advice is that there is no point whatsoever in anyone applying if they do not envisage finishing in the 1st quarter of 2017 and don't have at least 6 out of 8 fully completed modules, as there is simply no basis on which DCYA can consider this otherwise.
Applying to this process will not insulate people who do not meet the minimum regulatory standard from being non-compliant with the regulations at the beginning of January 2017.
Additionally, while DCYA will accept an application from anyone, it's highly unlikely to be approved unless there is a very good basis for doing so.
