News

The Ministry of Education is advising parents to only enrol their infants, toddlers and young children in registered Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Centres.

Further to The Education Act 2016, all ECCE Centres must be registered by the Education Council.

There are currently eighteen early childhood care and education institutions registered with Education Council.

"Although Centres are required to be registered, the Ministry of Education and other regulatory bodies have noticed the emergence of a few unregistered Early Childhood Centres over the past few months and taken the necessary action to close these facilities," said MoE Acting Chief Officer, Mr. Joel Francis. "Notwithstanding their closure, we urge parents to only enrol their children in registered Centres as registration is the sole guarantee that an institution meets the minimum teaching, learning and safety requirements set out by the Ministry of Education," Mr. Francis added.

Acknowledging that some parents utilise the services of unregistered institutions because they are less expensive, the Acting Chief Officer encouraged parents of Caymanian children needing early childhood assistance to take advantage of available funding by applying to the Early Childhood Assistance Programme (ECAP) to supplement childcare costs.

Mr. Francis also reminded parents seeking to enrol their children in ECCE Centres to tour the institution beforehand to observe the environment to ensure that it suits their family's needs.

Detailed guidance about choosing an early childhood centre is available on the Ministry of Education's website at https://www.gov.ky/education/departments-units/early-childhood-care-and-education-unit.

For further inquiries, please email the ECCE Unit at .