Valuing the skills and contributions of our educators and reversing the high rates of turnover is critical and can only be achieved through fair pay and rewards.
While it’s important to recognise the gains we have made, there is also more that needs to be done to have an effective ECEC system.
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Overall, we’ve seen huge improvements, particularly for children aged three to five years, but now we need a universal approach to quality education and care for our youngest children.
Australia still lags behind comparable OECD countries in the participation of younger children – particularly three year olds.
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The reorganisation of federal ministerial portfolios this week moved early childhood education and care from social services to education. This is a good thing.
Cuts to funding in education and research shows a lack of planning for the future.
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You could be forgiven for thinking that education was left largely untouched in Tuesday’s federal budget. But the tinkerings to last year’s education budget still mean a “fail” for education funding.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Social Services Minister Scott Morrison hope the government’s childcare policy will encourage more Australians to enter or re-enter the workforce.
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Most people have heard that Finland leads the world in education, but fewer have heard that Finland’s neighbour, Sweden, is the international leader in early childhood education and care.
The Productivity Commission’s focus is less on quality early learning and more about where to put the kids while the folks are at work.
AAP
The long-awaited report to government by the Productivity Commission on Childcare and Early Childhood Learning is a disappointment for the sector. The report ignored what leading experts in education and…
The government has foreshadowed they’ll announce a “families package” next year, what form should it take?
AAP
There are a lot of babies around, and the numbers are increasing. However, Australia does not have coherent policies that recognise the effect of parenting on workforce participation and vice versa. Parenting…
Research shows children in early learning benefit from having a stable relationship with one teacher, but with 180 qualified early learning teachers leaving every week, that can be difficult to maintain.
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Last year in an open letter to the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, early childhood employers and peak bodies joined forces to ask for a commitment to early learning. They warned the political…
Means-testing the child care rebate means some families are paying twice since their taxes already support education.
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Recent media reports suggest that the Productivity Commission into Child Care and Early Childhood Learning will recommend that the simplified single-payment child-care rebate is means-tested. This is not…
The Productivity Commission contains many positive measures for Early Childhood Learning, but are they implementable?
AAP
The recommendations of the Productivity Commission into Childcare and Early Learning appear to be a win for early childhood learning. However, as with many reports such as this, the devil is in the detail…