NUMBER OF INDIGENOUS CHILDREN ENROLLED IN A PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
ABS short name: EPR_INDIGPREENR
ABS Aggregate Template reference: Column AH
METeORTechnical name: Service provider organisation - number of Indigenous children enrolled in a preschool program, total N[NNNN]
METeOR identifier: 506734
METeOR link: <http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/506734>
METeOR definition: The total number of individual preschool program enrolments of Indigenous children at the service.
Scope
Inclusions: For all early childhood education and care services that deliver a preschool program:
- The total number of individual enrolments of Indigenous children in the preschool program, cross classified by the single year of age.
- Include Indigenous children who live outside of the jurisdiction's borders but are enrolled at a preschool within the jurisdiction. For example, an Indigenous child living in Tweed Heads who is enrolled at a preschool in Coolangatta (QLD) would be recorded by the QLD jurisdictional agency, not by NSW.
Exclusions:
- Indigenous children who have only completed enrolment procedures at the service and not yet commenced.
- Indigenous children who have left the service (e.g. have ceased education or changed service providers), or have been absent without explanation for four continuous weeks (excluding school vacations) prior to the reference period.
- Enrolled children enrolled that fall within the category 'non-Indigenous'.
- Indigenous children in ECEC services which do not deliver a preschool program.
Underlying Concepts
Concept: Indigenous children enrolled at a preschool program.
Nominal definition: An Indigenous child that has been offered a place in a preschool program and is actively attending.
Indigenous: According to 'The Commonwealth Definition', 'An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives'.
There are three components to the Commonwealth definition:
'The Commonwealth Definition' was given in a High Court judgement in the case of
Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 46 ALR 625.
Operational definition: The total number of Indigenous children that are enrolled in a preschool program. Please see data item listed earlier in this chapter for specific disaggregation and cross classification of this data element as specified in the data request template.
It must be noted that data collected at the aggregate level will be published as episodes of enrolments, not number of children enrolled. This is because it is not possible to identify duplicate enrolments within aggregate collections, once jurisdictional service provider data are merged.
Supporting data elements: Enrolment must be cross classified and reported by the following data elements:
Conceptual issues:
- The child must have been offered a place and formally enrolled or registered in a preschool program and actively attending to be counted as enrolled.
- A child is considered to be actively attending if they have attended a preschool program for at least one hour in the reference period or was absent in the reference period due to illness or extended holiday leave but was expected to return.
- The Indigenous status of the child must be the status as identified by the child's parent or guardian. See the data element Indigenous status, for further rules and definitions around identifying a child's Indigenous status.
- The nominal and operational definitions of Number of Indigenous children enrolled in a preschool program differ due to the aggregate data collection methodology.
Standard Jurisdictional Output Categories
Representation class: Count
Data type: Number
Format: N[NNNN], for example: 17
Maximum character length: 5
2.4.17 LEGAL VALUE CHECKS
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 | Edit specifications | Edit resolution |
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| 1. | If field is blank. | Provide a valid number of enrolled Indigenous children, otherwise amend to ‘0’ for nil Indigenous children. |
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| 2. | If character length is greater than 5. | Provide a valid number of enrolled Indigenous children. |
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| 3. | If total number of Indigenous children enrolled is less than total number of Indigenous children attending in a preschool program | Provide a valid number of enrolled and attending Indigenous children. Verify that enrolments are equal to or greater than number of Indigenous children attending. |
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| 4. | If total number of Indigenous children enrolled is greater than total number of children enrolled in a preschool program. | Provide a valid number of enrolled Indigenous children and correct number of total enrolled children. Verify that total numbers of Indigenous children enrolled are equal to or less than total number of all children enrolled. |
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Guide for Use
This data element must be cross classified and reported by the supporting data elements listed above.
Counting rules:
- The number of Indigenous children enrolled in a preschool program should be collected for each preschool program available at the service. Each Indigenous child should be counted once only and data should then be aggregated to the service provider for reporting purposes.
- The total number of Indigenous children enrolled, cross classified by their age (as at 1 July 2013) should be reported.
- A child should only be counted as being enrolled in a preschool program if they have been offered a place in a preschool program and are actively attending. A child is considered to be actively attending if they have attended a preschool program for at least one hour in the reference period or was absent in the reference period due to illness or extended holiday leave but was expected to return.
- Jurisdictions that adopt a two week reference period are required to derive their data to a representative week.
Other Information
Related URL data elements: Indigenous status and
Preschool program enrolment indicator
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