Representatives from four community playgroups - St Joseph's, the Holy Family, St Bernadette's and Claudy - met Martin McGuinness to express their concern that the establishment of new nursery units in primary schools in the Derry area was having an adverse impact on the future viability of private and voluntary pre-school groups there.
After the meeting, the education minister said, 'Our approach in developing pre-school education is to avoid wherever possible the displacement of quality, cross-community private and voluntary provision by new statutory provision. The availability of funded places in existing private and voluntary settings is taken into account...
'The voluntary, private and statutory sectors are equal partners in this unprecedented expansion of access to quality pre-school education, and we are determined to direct our best efforts to meeting the needs of the children.'
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