Developing School Age Childcare - Department of Children and ...

THE PROVISION OF SCHOOL AGE CHILDCARE ELSEWHERE4.1 In the previous chapter, the diverse range of childcare facilities on offer in Ireland atpresent was reviewed. In this chapter, the provision of School Age Childcare in otherMember States of the European Union and in a number of other countries is exploredbriefly. It is interesting to note the growing body of literature on the delivery of schoolage childcare in different countries which has expanded certainly in terms of Internetposted documentation even since the Working Group began its task.4.2. The structures and arrangements for the delivery of School Age Childcare vary amongthe Member States of the European Union. The European Commission Network onChildcare (ECNC) and other Measures to reconcile Employment and FamilyResponsibilities commissioned and published a comprehensive review of the servicesavailable in EU Member States, albeit in 1996. The Review sums up the situation as itthen applied as follows:“A number of countries have a strong proactive policy and high levels of provision,notably Denmark, France and Sweden. In other Member States, services in recent yearshave been increasing from a low baseline (for example, Luxembourg and Portugal); insome cases (for example Netherlands, Flemish Community in Belgium and UK) inresponse to short-term government initiatives to promote services. A few countries showlittle sign yet of significant development of formal school age childcare services, forexample Ireland, Italy and Spain.” 134.3 In relation to the organisation and delivery of services, the Review notes that“Provision takes many forms: organised family daycare, especially for the youngest agegroups; school based provision (which may or may not be part of the education system);centres separate from school, in some cases integrating provision for school-age childrenwith provision for younger children. Services may be managed by public authorities orprivate organisations or often, by a mixture of both. In most countries, provision fallswithin the welfare system, along with pre-school childcare services; in a few countries(Belgium, Denmark, France) the education system has a direct involvement in managingschool age childcare. Generally, as with pre-school childcare services in the welfaresystem, parents contribute to the costs according to income and family circumstances,usually, however, parents pay only a minority of these costs.” 144.4 It is interesting to look in detail at some of the different ways in which School AgeChildcare is delivered in other EU Member States. The next few paragraphs synopsiseaspects of the research carried out by Meijvogel and Petrie in 1996 15 for ECNC. Theyshow that that there is no ‘one way’ when it comes to School Age Childcare.13 European Commission Network on School Age Childcare (ENSAC) : School Age Childcare in the European Union: 199614 Ibid.15 Ibid.21