The Malinauskas Labor Government is taking immediate action to begin building the workforce required to deliver three-year-old preschool and expanded Out of Hours School Care, as the full response to the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care is released today.
The State Government has set an ambitious 20-year goal to reduce the rate of South Australian children who are developmentally vulnerable when they start school – from 23.8 per cent to 15 per cent.
Delivering universal three-year-old preschool is fundamental to achieving this, and the government is getting on with the job of making this commitment a reality.
To help deliver this reform, the government will make an unprecedented investment of $56 million to develop and support the early childhood education and care workforce. A large part of the investment will be allocated to scholarships to grow the workforce.
Importantly, this investment will see many early childhood workers upskill to become early childhood teachers.
The urgent task of building the early childhood workforce pipeline will require collaboration with universities, TAFE and other vocational education and training providers – building on the election commitment to bring early childhood education and courses, cut by the former Liberal Government, back at metropolitan TAFE SA campuses.
To lead this work, Kim Little has been appointed as the Chief Executive of the newly created Office for Early Childhood Development. Ms Little is a national expert in early childhood, having led the introduction of three-year-old preschool in Victoria.
The government will reform across eight areas to increase the availability and quality of early childhood services and supports, with greater flexibility for families. Some of these reforms include:
- Investing in Aboriginal children
- From 2024, three-year-old Aboriginal children, as well as children in care, at government-operated preschools will be offered 15 hours of preschool, up from 12 hours.
- Working with Aboriginal communities to co-design and deliver a range of strategies so Aboriginal children receive increased benefits from three-year-old preschool.
- Improving Out of School Hours Care (OSHC)
- Improving access to government OSHC, including for students with disabilities and complex needs
- Modernising OSHC qualification requirements
Increasing workforce participation is a key ambition of these reforms, with three-year-old preschool and more families having access to OSHC at the heart of ensuring more parents are able to work.
As put by Blair Boyer
This is an exciting reform that will lead the nation. It builds upon our existing investment into improving government preschool facilities and out of hours care, providing families with greater options and a higher quality of education and care.
Our goal is to strengthen the connection between families and preschool programs, health and support services so fewer South Australian children are starting school developmentally vulnerable.
The Royal Commission told us quality early learning programs can have a significant and lasting impact on children from disadvantaged contexts above the gains observed for other children. We are acting now to improve future outcomes for our most vulnerable children.
The early childhood education and care workforce is critical to the delivery of our vision for the early childhood system which is why the $56 million Early Childhood Workforce Fund is vital. We must attract and support high-quality educators and look at innovative ways to do so.
The recognition and availability of degrees will help us bring existing qualified teachers into the South Australian preschool workforce and provide us with a faster pathway for building the workforce through a qualification focused on educating children from birth to five years.
