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4240.0.55.002 - National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection: Data Collection Guide, 2011  
Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/03/2012  First Issue
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NUMBER OF CHILDREN ATTENDING A PRESCHOOL PROGRAM


Technical name: Service provider organisation - number of children attending a preschool program, total N[NNNN]
METeOR identifier: 441235
METeOR link: http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/441235
METeOR definition: The total number of children attending a preschool program at the service.

Scope
Inclusions: For all early childhood education and care services that deliver a preschool program:

  • The total number of children attending a preschool program, disaggregated by sex and single year of age.
Exclusions:
  • Children who did not attend the preschool program during the reference period (e.g. children who were absent during the reference period due to illness or extended holiday leave).
  • Children not enrolled in a preschool program.
  • Early childhood education and care services that do not deliver a preschool program:

Underlying Concepts
Concept: Preschool program attendance.
Nominal definition: A child who is enrolled in a preschool program and has attended the preschool program for at least one hour during the reference period.
Operational definition: The number of children who attended a preschool program for at least one hour during the reference period. Please see data item list in Chapter 1, Collection Specifications for specific disaggregation and cross classification of this data element as specified in the 2011 ECEC Data Request.
It must be noted that data collected at the aggregate level will be published as episodes of attendance, not number of children attending. This is because it is not possible to identify duplicate records within aggregate collections, once jurisdictional service provider data are merged.
Supporting data elements: Attendance must be cross classified and reported by the following data elements: Conceptual issues:
  • A child is defined as attending a preschool program if they attended for at least one hour during the reference period.
  • The nominal and operational definitions of Number of children attending 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: 70
Maximum character length: 5
Supplementary values:
      0 - Nil
      ns - Not stated/inadequately described

2.4.18 LEGAL VALUE CHECKS

Edit specificationsEdit resolution
1.
If field is blank.Provide a valid number of attending children, otherwise amend to ‘0’ for nil children or code ‘ns’ for unknown.
2.
If character length is greater than 5.Provide a valid number of attending children.
3.
If total number of children attending is greater than total number of children enrolled in a preschool program.Provide a valid number of enrolled and attending children. Verify that enrolments are equal to or greater than number of children attending.


Guide for Use
This data element must be cross classified and reported by the supporting data elements listed above.

Counting rules:
  • The total number of children attending must be cross classified by their sex and age (as of 1 July 2011).
  • The number of children attending a preschool program should be collected for each preschool program available at the service. These data should then be aggregated to the service provider level for reporting purposes.
  • A child should only be counted as having attended a preschool program if they attended for at least one hour during the reference period.
  • Jurisdictions that adopt a two week reference period are required to derive their data to a representative week.

Classification Definitions
CODE ns - Not stated/inadequately described
For use when the number of children attending at the service provider is unknown, not stated or inadequately described. Where the number of children attending is unknown, the ABS requests that jurisdictions identify the reason for the unknown response and document any follow-up processes undertaken.

Other Information
Related URL data element: Preschool program attendance indicator.

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