Majority Of Children Placed In Pre-School Of Their Choice

The majority of children, whose parents applied for a pre-school slot during the schools' admission process, have been allocated a place.

The Department of Justice said over 23,400 or 99.8% of children whose parents applied for a pre-school place at the start of the admissions process and stayed with the process to the end have been allocated a funded pre-school place.

In total, 23,909 applications were received, an increase of almost 2% on last year; while almost 450 more funded places have been allocated than last year, Minister for Education, John O'Dowd said.

He said: "The Department and the Education Authority have worked hard to meet demand and as well as making extra places available in voluntary and private settings.

"An additional 182 places in statutory settings have been approved under arrangements for temporary flexibility which have been made available again this year."

Mr O'Dowd added that the Education Authority will continue to work with the parents of 39 children who have not secured a place.

(LM/JP)