SDLP Education spokesperson SouthDown MLA Seán Rogers has urged the Education Minister to vary the number of free nursery school places available after concerns locally from parents whose children have missed out on their first choice preference.
Mr Rogers was speaking after it was announced out of more than 23,000 applications, more than 21,000 children had been placed.xa0The parents of children unplaced after this initial selection are being asked to submit further preferences from a list of places still available.
“It also seems that those who are missing out on their first choice preference are the ‘working poor’. They are being told they will have to incur further expense to get their child to nursery. It doesn’t seem fair, and I urge the minister to review this concerning situationxa0as a matter of urgency.”
