Education and training services

Tender description

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is requesting tenders from higher education providers for a specialist programme, to start from September 2020, aimed at the development and delivery of: (a) a Level 6 special purpose award (Higher education) programme which will be required for staff in settings delivering the early childhood care and education (ECCE) programme to qualify for and perform the role of inclusion coordinator; and (b) a programme of continuing professional development (CPD) which will be required for inclusion coordinators to continue in their role. The ultimate objective is to ensure that each ECCE setting has an inclusion coordinator who holds this Level 6 (Higher education) special purpose award and avails of regular CPD to keep skills relevant and participate in peer knowledge transfer and support through communities of practice. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs is requesting tenders from higher education providers for a specialist programme, to start from September 2020, aimed at the development and delivery of: (a) a Level 6 special purpose award (Higher education) programme which will be required for staff in settings delivering the early childhood care and education (ECCE) programme to qualify for and perform the role of inclusion coordinator; and (b) a programme of continuing professional development (CPD) which will be required for inclusion coordinators to continue in their role. The ultimate objective is to ensure that each ECCE setting has an inclusion coordinator who holds this Level 6 (Higher education) special purpose award and avails of regular CPD to keep skills relevant and participate in peer knowledge transfer and support through communities of practice. In submitting a tender for this programme, applicants must clearly demonstrate the capacity to respond appropriately to the learning and availability needs of staff working in ECCE Programme settings. The programme is targeted at staff working in early learning and care settings on contract to deliver the ECCE Programme funded by the DCYA. Participants must have already achieved a minimum of a major Level 5 award on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) in early childhood care and education or equivalent. This is a national programme of capacity building for the early learning and care workforce in Ireland and tenders must demonstrate capacity to deliver a consistent and coherent national programme that can facilitate the estimated enrollment of at least 630 participants per annum to the Level 6 special purpose (Higher education) programme and to deliver a programme of CPD to participants rising in number from approximately 2 800 in year 1 to an estimated 4 300 in year 3. Tenders may be submitted from a single provider or from a consortium but must afford national access to staff in early learning and care settings.