This paper introduces Síolta, the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood
Education (NQF) that has been developed under the auspices of the Department of
Education and Science (DES). Síolta is a quality assurance programme that has been
developed by the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education (CECDE), in
consultation with the wider early childhood care and education (ECCE) sector in Ireland.
It is applicable to all settings in which children aged from birth to six years are present
and therefore crosses many of the traditional divides between care and education and
between the formal school sector and the informal ECCE sector. The Framework has
been produced at a time when national and international attention is focused as never
before on the issue of quality ECCE services, and their role in enhancing the lives of our
youngest children. It distils and captures the concerted momentum of the sector in recent
years towards the attainment of quality and provides a reference point for all those
involved in ECCE services towards this end.
The paper begins by detailing the development process involved in creating Síolta. The
substantive focus pivots on the content of Síolta, namely the Principles, Standards and
Components of Quality. This is followed by an overview of the assessment and support
systems proposed for Síolta. The paper concludes by describing the national testing and
evaluation process envisaged for Síolta
