A DECISION on cutting hours for special school nursery children has been put on hold.
The Education Authority (EA) said there was "not sufficient time" to make changes.
This means that seven special schools can again offer full-time nursery places in 2017/18.
The EA said last year that it planned to cut the hours children received in special school nurseries from 4.5 to 2.5 hours a day.
Former education minister John O'Dowd ordered a review, which concluded that new arrangements would come into place for pupils starting in September.
EA chief executive Gavin Boyd said the March election meant the necessary public consultation could not proceed as planned.
Changes will now take effect until September 2018.
"The engagement phase of the review involving targeted engagement with key stakeholders was successfully completed as planned. However, we were unable to proceed further because pre-election guidance states that public consultations on significant policy proposals could not be launched in the period before an election," Mr Boyd said.
"There is not sufficient time now to obtain board approval, complete an eight week consultation, review responses, and prepare for implementation in line with the original timeframe. Therefore, the consultation is likely to commence in September 2017."
