Admission to primary and pre-school facilities in Northern Ireland is now open.
As of Monday, January 10, more than 21,000 applications have already been received as children prepare to begin their education in September 2022.
In total, more than 40,000 applications are expected to be submitted in kindergartens and primary schools.
Children born between July 2, 2017 and July 1, 2018 will be of compulsory school age in September 2022 and will need to be enrolled in primary school.
Parents of children born between July 2, 2018 and July 1, 2019 may apply for a preschool placement in a kindergarten, elementary school, or private/volunteer playgroup participating in a preschool educational program.
Parents of children born between July 2, 2019 and July 1, 2020 can also apply to a funded kindergarten, but only to kindergarten or primary kindergarten and admission is only possible after the target children have been accepted and remain in the funded places.
The online application process is facilitated by the Education Authority through its website and the Citizens Portal.
Peter Canavan, Student Admissions and Financial Support Officer at EA, is looking forward to another busy time when parents apply.
“We know how exciting and exciting it is sometimes for families when their children first enter kindergarten or elementary school, so we want the application process to be as simple as possible,” he said.
The Citizen Portal online application opened at 00:00 on Monday, January 10, but Mr Canavan noted that the online application process takes three weeks. It will be open on January 28 and Friday until 12:00 pm and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Parents will be informed that announcement received by 12 noon on Friday 28 January will be considered in due course. During the admission procedure, when nurseries/ daycares are required to use their own criteria, applications are considered in a timely manner before late applications are considered.
Canavan added: “We want to point out that the admissions process doesn’t work in the first place. Preschools/Schools will not begin reviewing applications until the application process is complete by 12 noon on January 28, 2022, so parents have time when it comes to applying. “
One important factor that parents should consider before applying is the admission criteria for the kindergarten or primary school they are considering. Each kindergarten and elementary school sets its eligibility criteria and the kindergarten/primary school uses its published criteria if it receives more applications than places are available.
Mr. Canavan explained that “reading the receiver standards is the starting point of the whole process for parents.”
On our site, you can search for your local preschool or elementary school by name or location, and then read their criteria before applying.
The parent must submit/upload the child’s birth certificate after completing the application. It is also important for a parent to read the admission criteria to see if any of the preschools or elementary schools listed as priority require any other supporting documents.
You can visit the Visual/Digital Help Guide, access information about the procedure and details of the EA Admissions Helpdesk https://www.eani.org.uk/parents/admissions .
Source: Belfastlive
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