Jan 2007 - Federal Opposition unveils new early childhood education initiative

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Jan 2007 - Federal Opposition unveils new early childhood education initiative

Federal Opposition leader Kevin Rudd has announced a plan to provide universal access to 15 hours per week of pre-school education for four-year-olds, and 1500 new university places for early childhood teachers. If elected, the Labor Party will fund the $450 million plan.

Labor's plan

Kevin Rudd is looking to deal with Australia's childcare shortages and pre-school preparation difficulties: he has made an early election promise that one of their first legislative changes will be to offer parents up to 15 hours per week of play-based learning for their four-year-old children.

Rudd stated:

'When we send our kids off to their first day of school we want to know they're getting the best start possible in life.
'Education is the pathway to our country's future. It is the pathway to our children's future. It is critical that our kids get a decent start in life, whatever side of the tracks they may grow up on.'

The $450 million in funding—to be provided by the Federal Government—will go to centres so they can employ more qualified educators, without having to charge parents higher fees. The free hours would not be compulsory.

Labor's family spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said:

'We want to make it easier for those parents who are working to make sure that they can get the best chance for their children to have a proper early learning program delivered in a long day care or family day care setting.
'We know there are some examples of that in different parts of Australia: we want to make it universal.'

The initiative will take five years to roll out, due to the current lack of qualified early childhood teachers. Labor plans to deal with this problem by offering 1500 fully funded university places in early childhood education and a 50 per cent discount on HECS fees for students who go on to live and work in disadvantaged areas.

Read ABC News' 'Rudd unveils plan for play-based early learning'.
Read Sydney Morning Herald's 'Early start: Infants to learn about school under ALP plan'.

Early Childhood Australia's position

Early Childhood Australia's National President, Margaret Young, has responded favourably to the new initiative. However, she emphasises that it needs to be flexible in order to accommodate all forms of programs which children attend:

'Early Childhood Australia welcomes the announcement by Kevin Rudd that the Labor Party will give all four-year-olds access to 15 hours a week of play-based learning, and development programs delivered by teachers with early childhood degrees. This promise is strengthened by the associated commitment to provide funding to increase the number of university places for early childhood teaching degrees.
'The recognition of the importance of qualified early childhood teachers in early childhood settings is a step in the right direction. Research clearly shows the positive benefits this brings to all children under five who use preschools and child care. ECA believes there should be qualified teachers in all early childhood settings.
'ECA applauds the commitment to make this program available in both sessional preschools and long day childcare settings.
'However, this initiative must take into account the variation in children's attendance in long day care, as opposed to preschools. It needs to be flexible in order to account for the different ways in which programs operate. It will not realise its potential if services are required to employ an early childhood teacher for a set 15 hours every week, as this allowance will not cover the full range of attendance of children in long day care settings. The aim must be to have a qualified teacher delivering the whole program.
'Early Childhood Australia supports the commitment to providing high-quality early childhood programs for all young children. This is a strong beginning.'

Reception of plan

The plan has been welcomed by many children's organisations. President of Childcare Associations Australia, Anne Clarke, said:

'The funding of four-year trained early childhood educators within long day care services is a welcome initiative.'

Antoinette le Marchant, CEO of KU Children's Services, was equally enthusiastic. She stated it was 'terrific to see the value of early childhood education being recognised'.

Government response

The Federal Government has criticised Rudd's plan, claiming that they are working with state governments to improve early childhood education and that Labor is simply following suit.

Education Minister Julie Bishop announced that 'This is a matter for state governments—the state governments manage preschool education in this country.'

She claimed that the plan indicated Labor was admitting the failure of its state colleagues in providing pre-school education and said that the Federal Government also had a plan that covered children from birth to age eight.

Read ABC News' 'Federal Govt dismisses Labor's preschool plan'.

Labor defence

Responding to this criticism, Kevin Rudd said the Federal Government was:

'On the one hand, blaming the states, saying it's not Canberra's responsibility and then in the next breath, saying that Canberra's going to do better than the plan that I put forward.
'You can't have it both ways.'

He claimed that the plan was the first chapter of the Labor Party's 'education revolution', intended to produce the best-trained workforce in the world.

Read ABC News' 'Rudd defends early childhood education plan'.




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